From the Ashes of the Phoenix: Dawn of a New Era
by Hydrochloric Cutie
Summary: This story follows Harry and Ginny along with Hermione and Ron, showing how the year after the battle progressed. Many threats remain in the wizarding world. We try to follow cannon as closley as we can.
1. Ashes of Battle

**A/N: This story is written by both myself and my friend, Addictedheartache. And edited by his lovely wife. We wanted a cannon story that countinued the story in the direction we felt it should have went. As we write we will notate each chapter with who did the primary writing and who did the revisions.**

**This story has a outline completly written from start to finish and will take up 1 year following the end of book 7 before the epilogue. We plan to hopefully countinue the story beyond that into more books covering more years up to the epilogue and hopefully beyond. We do have a rough outline for those books.**

**This chapter was written mostly by me and revised by Addictedheartache.**

***The world of HP belongs to JK, we're just playing in it.***

"Harry?" Hermione questioned quietly, looking wearily over at the black haired young man. His back was toward them, but Hermione could still see all the tension he had in his shoulders. "Will you be alright? Ron and I were going to head back down to the Great Hall."

Harry turned around to face his best friends. Hermione was pale skinned from their months on the run in the winter, and her body was far thinner than it ought to be. Her face was smudged with dirt and caked with blood that Harry wasn't entirely sure was her own. Her hair, ever unruly, was covered with dirt and still had a small piece of seaweed attached from their drop from the dragon. The frizz of her hair created a halo effect around her head, making her look even more innocent. Ron wasn't looking much better, exceedingly pale with his ginger hair burning bright in the early morning light coming through the window behind the Headmaster's desk. The scars received from the brain tentacles during the battle at the Department of Mysteries that wound up his arms were now highlighted with burns from the vault at Gringotts. All of this was complemented by a nice gash going across his face; slowly healing with time, but needing proper looking at. Ron was standing next to Hermione, his arm wrapped around her waist, holding on to her as if he didn't dare let go, a sad look on his face. Harry realized he was mourning Fred and barley keeping it together. He thought of Ginny. "Yeah, I'll head down with you two, I guess."

Ron nodded his head in agreement. Harry swung the invisibility cloak up around his shoulders and flipped the hood up to cover his head. It would look a bit odd if people saw Harry re-enter the Great Hall having not been seen leaving. The trio of Gryffindors slowly made their way down the spiral staircase leading from the Headmaster's office and wove their way back through the rubble in the corridors, down to the Entrance Hall. Throughout the halls they could see splotches of red highlighting some of the devastation. Once they reached the open doors of the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione could sense Harry's hesitation at going back into the crowd, and they turned slightly to face him, or at least the space where they knew him to be.

"You alright mate?" Ron asked tentatively. He seemed more on edge about Harry now after being in Dumbledore's old office, with all the information he'd just learned.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired. I think I'm going to kip up to Gryffindor Tower and get some sleep. Tell your family I'm sorry…about Fred." Harry said, getting a bit choked up at this sentiment.

Before Ron or Hermione could respond to this, Harry turned on his heel and quickly left them. He heard them call after him, but since he was under the cloak, they would not be able to easily follow him. He just wanted to be alone now. He plodded the all too familiar path up to Gryffindor Tower. As he made his way back up, he took the chance to glance at his surroundings. Harry saw numerous chunks of the castle were missing from their spots on the wall, now strewn across the way, causing him to step in a zigzag pattern to avoid turning his ankle on bits of stone. He saw portraits lying on their sides, the figures inside peering warily out of the frame, as if assessing the damage to their beloved home. Several frames were lying in fragments with the chunks of stone fixtures. There was blood everywhere, so much blood; some of it spattered up high – almost reaching the ceiling – some puddled on the floor, and some even smeared along the wall, as if someone was trying to escape from their own personal hell. After walking quickly from corridor to corridor, he just couldn't take the imagery any more, the blood, the destruction. Harry stopped his ascent, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes.

_They were in the halls, Fred and Percy, and Hermione and Ron of course. They heard the battle with Pius Thicknesse, and Percy making a joke; the first joke Harry had actually heard him say in all the time he had known the man. But this joke was the last words uttered before the ungodly scream, Harry would not get that scream out of his head any time soon, if at all. The wall had exploded and the entirety of it collapsed on top of Fred. Harry saw Fred laying there on the ground, the last laugh etched on his face. There was blood at his temple, and Harry could see where the killing blow struck, a small pool of blood starting to form under his head where he lay…_

_He could see the burly Quidditch player, Oliver Wood, accepting the small, but no less brave, Colin Creevey over his shoulder from Neville Longbottom, laying there like a limp rag doll. They had been carrying him together, but Neville was needed elsewhere. Colin looked so small, even smaller than he had appeared when he was alive; maybe it was his spirit that made people see him differently. Oliver had tears silently tracking down his face, whether they be in particular for the dead boy currently resting on his person, or in general for the death and destruction surrounding him. Oliver had come back because he had been visiting his friends from the Quidditch team, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, and during that time Katie had received the call through her coin from the DA. So Oliver came with them, knowing that there was going to be a battle... _

_He saw two bodies falling from the balcony above. At once Harry saw a four legged animal-like creature bound over to a lone figure lying on the floor. Fenrir Greyback was on top of Lavender Brown, crouching over her supine body with a feral grin on his face. He had blood smeared across his mouth, and chunks of hair under his talon-like nails; one of which was tracing the contours of her face. Lavender lay still on the hard stone floor, looking out for someone, anyone to help her. Her eyes seemed dull, as if she had given herself up to this fate of being Greyback's play thing. Her brown eyes, which were usually smiling along with her happy personality, were now sad, and glassy as the tears refused to fall. Harry saw the scene play out, with a royally pissed off Hermione coming to her rescue; with a strong stunning spell Greyback was thrown from her limp body. Harry could see Lavender let out a small breath and a single tear fell from her eye. He had no idea if she made it or not—he hoped she was still alive and not dead. _

_The dead lie scattered along the floor, but two in particular jumped out at him. He saw Remus and Tonks, laying side by side, their bodies mangled and yet their hands were reaching out for each other, even in death. Their love survived the prejudices against werewolves, and they managed to bring a bright spot in to the world, their son Teddy. Teddy..._

He dropped to the ground, pain spiking through his knees as they collided with the hard stone floor. Harry thought about what would happen to his godson. Teddy would be an orphan, just like himself. Harry started to let the guilt creep in. It was his fault. He was the reason that Teddy was an orphan. If he had just turned himself in to Voldemort sooner, then less people would have died; or no one would have died. Not Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Dobby, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, Snape, Fred…

Harry opened his eyes to get the images of his dead friends out of his head, but then he saw the blood, and quickly closed his eyes once more. _Ginny was crouching on the floor as he was walking out to meet Voldemort, with a young girl whom he had never seen before. The little girl just wanted to go home to her parents, she didn't want to fight anymore; she didn't want or deserve to be here_. Harry was starting to realize that people he didn't even know had died, all because of him. Many other faces assaulted his mind—faces without names or details, but people he knew had died because of him. Why did he let things get this bad? He should have let himself be killed by Voldemort earlier, to spare the rest of these people their horrible fate. Parents would have been reunited with children, and families would be brought back together. Families…

_Family…_

That word resonated in Harry's mind. He thought of the people he considered family. His Mum and Dad had died before he could even remember what they really were like. They had died and given Harry the chance to live. But at what cost? So many dead… their families would never be the same. His godfather Sirius, who was like a father to him, had been killed because of Harry's arrogance. It was terrible what had happened, all because Harry couldn't perform Occlumency. Voldemort took control of his mind to implant images, and Sirius had died because Harry thought these images were real. Hermione told him it could be a trap but he ignored her and went ahead and got Sirius killed. It was his fault. Now Remus was dead, and that was the last of his father's friends. His last connection to his father's era was dead, because of him again. All Harry had left to connect him to his father were old memories. Haunting memories. His mind wandered to the only family he had left—at least he thought he had them—he wasn't so sure any more. The Weasleys had taken him in, fed him, cared for him; they had considered him one of their own children. The family of his best mate, and of Ginny. Ginny, who he desperately yearned to be with. The thought of being able to be with her again had kept him going these past nine months. She wouldn't want him anymore now that he'd dumped her. Her brother was dead because he didn't give himself up soon enough. It was his fault, they would all hate him. He would never be able to look any of them in the eye again; they wouldn't take him in, the boy who got their son killed in some stupid battle that he could have ended sooner! Ginny would never forgive him for leaving her and getting her brother killed. Maybe he could beg for their forgiveness. At that thought he felt the guilt overwhelm him.

He had to get away, to find a place to hide so he couldn't bring anyone any more pain. He thought of Number 12 Grimmauld Place and Kreacher… but as soon as he thought of Kreacher, he thought of Dobby. That poor house-elf died trying to get Harry and his friends away from Malfoy Manor to Shell Cottage. The elf was his friend, granted, a friend who had tried to "accidently" hurt him so he didn't have to be at Hogwarts during the Chamber of Secrets incident, but a friend nonetheless. He had made Dobby promise never to try and save him again. He wished Dobby had kept that promise; maybe he would still be alive today. He thought about the grave he dug for Dobby, the small little hole in the ground at the end of the garden at Shell Cottage. He wished that he could have given the house-elf a better burial, because he certainly deserved it, with how much he had helped Harry through the years. The thought of Dobby breathing his last few words and what he said, "_Harry…Potter…_" was just too much to bear.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, fell to his hands and knees and started weeping. He cried and cried over all those who had died to save him over the years, and all the people who had died here in these past few days. He lay on the floor curled up in a little ball, pulling the invisibility cloak tighter around his body, just wanting to feel the pressure of the cloak around him, to give him some modicum of comfort. His sobs became more violent and he hoped that everyone was still in the Great Hall and well out of ear shot. After a few minutes of this heavy sobbing, Harry pulled himself together long enough to summon Kreacher hoping that he would be able to take him home, where ever home was—he didn't have one anymore.

"Kreacher!" Harry sobbed out. A few seconds later there was a loud crack and Kreacher appeared right in front of him. The house-elf looked around, slightly confused as to why he was not finding his Master where he was summoned. Harry looked up at the familiar and worn face of the house-elf he had grown fond of when they spent those weeks hiding out at Grimmauld place. He hoped that Kreacher could take him away from all of this.

"Kreacher was summoned but there is no one here," Kreacher rasped, "Kreacher was sure he heard Master summon Kreacher."

Remembering that he was under the cloak, Harry poked his head out from under it. "Here," croaked Harry, his voice hoarse from all the crying.

"What can Kreacher do for Master?"

"Take me home please, I just need to go home," Harry said, practically pleading with the house-elf. Kreacher nodded, a solemn look on his face. Harry heard footsteps coming from a distance away; someone was coming closer. Kreacher reached out and grabbed Harry's hand. Harry briefly wondered where Kreacher would think was home—had none—before Harry soon felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed through a very small tube. "Where are we?"

"We are home, Master Harry, at Grimmauld place, home of the most Honorable House of Potter!" Kreacher croaked with pride.

Harry jumped up quickly from the floor. Pulling out a wand, he realized he was in the sitting room. "But Kreacher, didn't the Death Eaters get into here? We brought Yaxley inside the Fidelius charm!"

"Kreacher saw him enter the house, Kreacher knew he was a bad wizard so when he left, Kreacher sealed the house so no one could get back in, and then Kreacher went to Hogwarts as Master had ordered Kreacher to do before," croaked Kreacher, the worry plain on his face that he did wrong. "Kreacher hopes he did the right things, Kreacher is sorry if he was bad, Kreacher will punish himself." Kreacher reached for the fire poker.

"NO!" yelled Harry, reaching towards the little elf and pulling him away. "No you did a good job, Kreacher. Thank you." Harry was alarmed when he realized the wand he had pulled out was the Elder wand; he hastily put it away. Harry started to look around at his surroundings. He found himself in the sitting room at the familiar house, previously used as the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry suddenly found himself tired and weak. He stumbled over to the couch and fell into it. Kreacher walked over to the mantle and started a nice fire for his weary Master. Kreacher put a few logs on the fire and waved one gnarled hand at the logs and they began to glow red hot. All at once, the logs burst into flame and began crackling merrily. Harry stared into the flames allowing his thoughts to run rampant. _All of this is my fault. All those people died because I couldn't be braver. If only I had gone out sooner, or tried to find the Horcruxes faster. Maybe I should have tried harder to learn Occlumency. I couldn't protect Dumbledore from Snape, and I couldn't stop Voldemort from killing Snape. Snape, I hated him for so many years, but all that hate was misplaced, since he was just trying to protect me. Because he loved my mother. My parents, oh, how I wish they were here again; it was so good to see them, even if it was only images from the resurrection stone. To see them, in person, and not through that damn mirror. _And then everyone that had died for him started to replay in his mind.

Something interrupted the torrent of images that were assaulting his mind. Someone was speaking, and Harry realized it was Kreacher. "W-what was that Kreacher?" Harry asked wearily.

"Kreacher said 'Is Master wanting anything else?'" Kreacher asked Harry with a worried expression on his face. His Master's face looked pained and he was deathly pale. Kreacher moved to stand next to the couch that Harry sat on.

"No, I just want to sleep," Harry croaked, brushing his fists past his eyes harshly to wipe the tears away. "I just want to be left alone. Don't let anyone in the house."

"Kreacher can seal the house like he did before, no one will be able to enter the house at all," Kreacher croaked.

"And no one will be able to enter it without me letting them?"

"No, Master Harry, no one can enter the house at all, it will be sealed against everything."

"Ok, do it Kreacher," ordered Harry. "I'm g-going to sleep now," he yawned.

"Yes, Master," croaked Kreacher, as he raised his hands and snapped his fingers. Harry looked around at the house, seeing the effects of Kreacher's magic. The windows faded from their clear panes to black, the walls started to glow a faint blue, which flared brightly for a moment before quickly dissipating. The fireplace even seemed to grow brighter before settling in at the normal color. Harry felt a sort of calm come over him, knowing that no one could disturb him, and he allowed himself to sink further back onto the couch. His eyelids felt heavier and heavier. Soon he was looking at the back of them, slipping off into a restless sleep, filled with haunted memories that lay torture upon his mind.

**Thank you for reading, let us know what you think!**


	2. An Unexpected Solution

**A/N: This chapter is half written by me and the other half by Addictedheartache. And of course edited by his wife.**

*******The world of HP belongs to JK, we're just playing in it.***

Ginny looked around at her family sitting at the table. George was resting with his head against Fred's lifeless body with silent tears running down his face. Her mum and dad were sitting nearby, Arthur holding his wife as she ran her hand through George's hair. Bill and Fleur were sitting next to Ginny talking quietly, and Percy and Charlie were sitting across the table from them. She had been wondering were Harry had been since this morning. She had seen him sitting next to Luna earlier, who yelled out an obvious distraction while Harry put the cloak on. Shortly later, Ron and Hermione got up and left the Great hall. She needed to see Harry… It had been too long and she hoped that he still wanted to be with her.

Ginny looked up to see Ron and Hermione standing at the entrance to the great hall with a space between them—obviously, Harry was there. Ron and Hermione suddenly looked back the way they came and then shook their heads and made their way to the table walking slowly and holding hands. Ginny thought, _I am going to have talk to Hermione about that one!_ Happy that her stupid brother had finally come to his senses, Ginny gave them a slight smile as they approached.

"Hello," Ginny greeted them as they walk up to the table. "Where's Harry?"

"He went up to Gryffindor tower," Ron explained tiredly, giving Ginny a side-armed hug. "He's exhausted, and you can't really blame him, can you?"

"No, not really," Ginny said thoughtfully. She looked at Ron once more. No longer did she see the annoying older brother that constantly picked on her. She saw him as the man he had been forced to become. He carried himself differently. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was finally honest with Hermione about how he felt about her; everyone had known it but him. Ron would barely let her out of his sight, let alone his grip. He seemed to have a hand on her an all times: not possessively, but as a gesture that he wasn't going anywhere. Hermione looked a bit different as well. Sure, she looked tired and dirty, but there was a sense of accomplishment around her, similar to the accomplishment she saw when Hermione was finished taking her exams. This was a far greater accomplishment, one that she would be benefiting from for years to come.

Once Ginny saw Ron moving on to see the rest of their family, she broke away from their table and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Ginny!" Molly called after her only daughter, though she just didn't have the heart to go chasing after her right then. Molly sighed when she saw her daughter's flaming red hair give a final swish before disappearing from the Great Hall. Ginny managed to make her way up two flights of steps before she heard a loud crack. Just up ahead of her, she thought she saw something. It looked a bit like the old house elf from Grimmauld Place, Kreacher. With a quick shake of her head and passing off the image as a hallucination due to a lack of sleep over the past two days, Ginny headed up the stairs and continued her journey to Gryffindor tower. Kreacher wouldn't be there, and if he were, it was probably just to clean up at that point. As she reached the final staircase to Gryffindor Tower, she slowed her pace; allowing herself to think for a moment. It made sense that he would go there after everything that had happened. He had told her once that he thought of Hogwarts as his home. She hoped that they could finally have some time alone. She wanted so badly just to be with him again, to feel his arms around her holding her tightly. Ginny shook her head, mumbling to herself that he would have to take her back first. Would he? Would she take him back after he left her to suffer this last year at Hogwarts? She couldn't blame him—he couldn't've come back, there was no way. She would take him back as long as he would have her!

Ginny snapped out of her line of thought when she realized she had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Ginny hastily gave the only password that she remembered from before Spring break. "Mouldy Shorts".

As the portrait swung open, Ginny saw a knowing smile on the fat lady as she said, "If you are looking for Harry Potter, darling, he isn't in here. I haven't seen him."

Worriedly, she tore through the tower. Ron had definitely told her that he was going up to take a nap in the tower; she didn't mishear him at all. Going up through the boys dormitories brought her nothing but empty rooms, as did the girls rooms. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she began to fret in earnest.

With one last quick look around the common room, she bolted from Gryffindor Tower and ran down the corridors that lead to the Great Hall. In her haste, coming around a corner she knocked into Professor McGonagall. Both of them fell to the ground, and it took Ginny more than a few moments to collect herself. When she realized who she had crashed into, she hastily got to her feet and helped her professor up from the ground. "Sorry, Professor," she said hurriedly.

Professor McGonagall was still gathering her bearings, but she saw the frightened look in Ginny's eyes. "Is everything all right, Miss Weasley?"

"Harry's missing!" Ginny exclaimed as she took off down the stairs.

"What?!" asked Professor McGonagall, taking off at a swift trot after the youngest Weasley child.

As Ginny ran back to the Great Hall, she wondered what could have happened. _Why would he leave? We are all his friends and family. He told Ron and Hermione that he was going to the tower to sleep. What if something happened to him on the way up? What if he was wearing the invisibility cloak and something hit him in the head; there are pieces of castle everywhere from the battle. What if he is just lying there, dying and no one can find him because of that stupid cloak! _Ginny burst into the Great Hall ignoring the people looking at her as she ran to her family. Breathing heavily, Ginny skidded to a halt alongside the table.

"Ginny!" gasped Hermione. "What's wrong?"

"Harry is missing!" she said frantically, though not loudly enough for the rest of the quietly buzzing hall to hear. Molly drew in a sharp breath at this, and Arthur straightened his glasses to better look at his daughter.

"What do you mean, missing?" he said, directing the question to her as well as Ron and Hermione. George seemed to perk up at this with a worried expression on his face.

"Harry told me and Ron that he was going up to Gryffindor Tower to sleep because he was tired," Hermione explained.

"Well I was just up there," Ginny replied heatedly. "He wasn't there. I looked everywhere in that tower and the Fat Lady said she hadn't seen him or opened to anyone."

"And why were you out looking for him?" Molly interjected.

"I haven't seen him since last summer," Ginny mumbled as her cheeks colored. She did not care to explain her feelings for Harry to her mother in front of everyone at the time, nor ever.

"He was wearing his invisibility cloak," Ron said quickly before his mother could question Ginny further. "Maybe he's just hiding ya know, he don't want anyone to see him or something?" Ginny gave Ron a thankful look for diverting the conversation away from her and Harry.

"Well, I think there is something wrong," Ginny said defiantly. Ginny scanned the Great Hall, looking for something to help. Nothing.

"I am sure it is nothing, Harry has been through a lot. He's probably keeping low where he won't be bothered by anyone," stated Arthur.

"We have to find him," George spoke softly out of nowhere.

"Well, me and Hermione will go see if we can find him," Ron said as Hermione stood up from her seat and grabbed his hand. Arthur nodded his head. He really couldn't stop those two, not after the past several months running all over the country. And if anyone knew where Harry could be hiding, it would be them.

"Be careful you two," he warned them as they were about to set out. "We will be heading back to The Burrow tonight; if we find him here we'll send you a Patronus."

"We'll be home by dinner to let you know what we find, Dad," said Ron.

"I'm going too," Ginny announced, walking over to Ron and Hermione.

"No!" Molly said loudly. "You are under-aged and I don't want you going anywhere."

"But I have to find Harry!" Ginny replied, tears building in her eyes.

Ron walked over to his little sister and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look up at him. "We will find him," he said reassuringly. "Stay here with Mum. She is going to need you."

"But—" Ginny started, but Ron cut her off.

"You know that you will be the first person to know if we find anything," Ron said. She nodded her head. "I need you to be strong and look out for Mum and Dad. George is going to need you as well."

"Fine," she pouted. "But as soon as you find something..." Ginny knew Ron was just trying to protect her and also keep everyone calm. He had really grown up. There was a time he would have just started yelling. Of course he was right, she couldn't go.

"I promise," he whispered cutting her off. He gave her a quick hug before walking out of the Great Hall with Hermione. Not long after they left, Professor McGonagall and Kingsley approached the Weasley clan. They went through the formality of condolences before jumping to the heart of the matter.

"We understand Harry is missing," Kingsley said to Arthur.

"Indeed, that is what seems to be happening. Hermione and Ron said he went up to Gryffindor Tower for a nap. But when Ginny went looking for him, he wasn't there. Ron and Hermione went searching for him; I think they left the castle."

"Yes, even though he could just be hiding somewhere, it would be wise to search for him. It is not safe out there; a lot of Voldemort's followers will be looking to exact revenge," Kingsley said worriedly.

Professor McGonagall said, "We should search the castle and the school ground, Merlin knows there are many places to hide in this school."

"Talk only to those that you can trust, because if Harry is missing we don't need it getting out," boomed Kingsley. There were still a lot of people left, staying to help clean up and fix the castle, or just with nowhere to go.

With the help of Professor McGonagall, Ginny rounded up the few people she knew they could trust. They were few, but they were good people, trusted people. Neville and his Gran, Lee Jordan, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Luna, Dean, Seamus, and of course her family. They all split up to look in different sections of the castle, agreeing to reconvene back in the Great Hall.

Ginny was so exhausted, and she was sure everyone else was. Whether Harry was missing or hiding did not matter—he could be in danger. He just killed the darkest wizard of all time. There were people out there who would look for him and try to get revenge. So with that in mind, they searched every inch of the castle and the grounds. Charlie took the Forbidden Forest, Bill took the lake, Katie and Alicia took the Quidditch pitch, and Percy took the perimeter of the castle. The rest split up the floors, while George, Lee, and Angelina checked all the secret passage ways. It took the rest of the morning to check all the nooks and crannies, but they did, and wearily made their way back to the Great Hall. The house elves had made sandwiches and assorted pastries for lunch.

Once lunch was over, Kingsley approached the table. "I am sorry, but I have to go back to the ministry to secure and start stabilizing it," he said. "Arthur, Percy, I know you want to find Harry, but could you please come with me? I know it's a lot to ask with what your family has been through, but I really need people that I can trust to help secure the Ministry."

Arthur looked to Molly, who gave a nod. "I will come with you, and I am sure Percy will as well."

"I'll come, Minister," stated Percy.

"Sorry to take them away, Molly, but this needs to be done."

"I understand, Kingsley," Molly said gravely.

Kingsley nodded. Professor McGonagall spoke up before the three of them left. "We are going to finish up here and start the repairs tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Kingsley boomed. "Good luck, and please let us know if you find him." The two Weasleys and the large Minister walked from the Great Hall.

"Alright everyone," Molly said tiredly to the family. "Once you're done your lunch, pack up whatever you might have here. We're going to head home"

They began to slowly trickle from the Great Hall. Ginny was sitting at one of the tables off to the side. She was still worrying about Harry. _If only I had gone to get him sooner, _she thought. _Maybe this never would have happened. _

"Come on, Ginny," Molly said wearily. Ginny looked at her mother, who looked like she had aged ten years overnight.

"Coming, Mother," she replied just as wearily. Ginny followed her mother and the rest of her family out of the hall. They walked through the sloping lawns of Hogwarts, and down the road that lead to Hogsmeade. Once they reached the quaint village, they paired up to apparate back to the Burrow. Bill with Fleur, Molly with Ginny, and Charlie with George. With three quick turns and three small pops, the Weasley's were gone.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ron and Hermione walked hand in hand out of the castle and down the lawn. They got a chance to take a look at what had happened to the grounds, and it wasn't pretty. There was blood on the ground, and bits of acromantulas strewn about, with dead giants lying on the ground. They didn't look too closely at the carnage on the ground, afraid of what they might see. Without any words, they made their way to Dumbledore's tomb. The grand white marble structure was a sight to behold. The stones were cracked and moved aside haphazardly. There was a cavern there, but no Harry. Quietly, they walked up to the opening in the stone and saw what Voldemort had seen only a day before: the image of Dumbledore lying peacefully in his tomb. It didn't look like he had been in the ground more than a day. Deciding to move on to the next place, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and led her to Hagrid's hut. The place they had loved to visit and have tea with their half-giant friend now lay in shambles, half burned to the ground. After a quick walk around the perimeter, Hermione casting the _Homenum revelio_ charm, they were on to their next location. They walked out of the gates, leaving Hogwarts behind. It was as if they were sharing a mind, since they walked to the cave that Sirius had hid out in as Snuffles without a word. A quick charm came up empty once more. The couple looked at each other and decided to walk to the other end of the village to check the Shrieking Shack. When they reached the front door of the famous house, Hermione cast the charm: there was nothing there.

Their next stop was number 12 Grimmauld Place. But when they apparated to the small park outside the house, they noticed something different. The house did not reveal itself to them. It should have. Once Dumbledore died, the members of the Order, and their kids, became secret keepers. Ron could tell Hermione's brain was on overload thinking about what could have happened. She had that look on her face, Ron knew she was going to be reading some books about this… For now they decided that since she had revealed the secret to Yaxley, the Death Eaters must have gotten into the house and did something to reconfigure its magic.

"Maybe he went to Shell Cottage to visit Dobby's grave?" suggested Ron. Hermione nodded and took Ron's hand. They apparated to the end of the garden were Dobby's grave was. As they walked over to it, Hermione let out a small gasp. Ron tensed immediately but relaxed when he saw what she was pointing at. A Stone had been put at the head of Dobby's grave that read 'HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF.'

"I never noticed he did that after we left," whispered Hermione. She quickly cast _Homenum revelio_ to see if anyone was at the cottage—nothing.

"It doesn't look like any one has been here for a few days; I don't think he came here at all, Hermione."

"I think I know where he might have gone," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Why didn't I think of it before!"

"Where?"

"You weren't with us when we went to Godrics Hollow, maybe he went to his parent's grave now that everything is over now."

"Ok, let's go," Ron said as he took Hermione's hand, and with a pop they were on a dark part of a street across from a graveyard. Ron looked around at the small town. It reminded him slightly of Ottery St. Catchpole; it was small, quaint, and had a safe feeling about it. Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and they walked quietly across the street, over to the kissing gate. Hermione led them to the headstones that bore Harry's parent's names. Ron thought back to that night in the tent when he and Harry had fought. Ron had said Harry's parents were safely out of the way, and Harry had retorted that his parents were dead, and Ron had replied that he didn't want his own to die now. Ron reached out a hand and ran his fingers over the top of the stone. This was unquestionable, he could see and feel the headstones that made it real; James and Lily were indeed dead.

"This is really them," Ron said, awe in his voice.

"Yeah, it's really them." Hermione turned her body and tucked herself under Ron's arm. His size was a comfort to her now, and she felt safer when he was around. Ron pressed a brief kiss to the top of her head before leading her out of the graveyard. They followed their feet and ended up in front of the Potter house. Having only heard stories of this place, Ron was in awe of the site in front of him. All the children in their generation were told stories about this house, and that this was the place where Voldemort had been "defeated." Ron saw all the messages written and took some time to read them. Another cast also revealed nothing.

Once they were done with their search they walked back past the church. "I think it's time to head back to the Burrow, it's probably dinner time about now," Ron said, his voice deeper than normal from all the emotion running through him almost hiding the noise of his stomach. Hermione smiled and shook her head at him, and reached out for his hand. They apparated to just outside the Burrow.

No sooner did they appear that the front door to the Burrow burst open and Ginny came running towards them. She looked from Hermione to Ron and held her gaze on him. Ron knew she was going to be upset; he had no idea what to say. Ron shook his head and started to say "Ginny I'm—" he was cut off by Ginny letting out a sob and falling to her knees. As Ron ran forward he saw the rest of the Weasley family coming out of the Burrow.

When Ron reached his sister, he knelt down, pulled her into a hug, and whispered, "Everything will be okay. He probably just doesn't want to talk to anyone yet. It's been pretty rough on him. He probably just wants to be alone."

"I just want to know that he's okay," she cried softly.

"I know," Ron soothed. "I know Ginny, so do I." Ron saw that everyone had stopped just outside the doorway. "Come on Ginny, let's get inside. We'll look for him some more tomorrow, ok?" Ginny nodded, and they both stood up slowly. Ron walked towards the house with his arm over Ginny. He cast Hermione an apologetic look over his shoulder, but Hermione just nodded, smiling slightly. He knew she understood.

They approached the Burrow, Molly and Arthur waiting for them at the door. Ron could see the his mother's confusion by the look on her face. She hadn't really known about Ginny's relationship with Harry, so she didn't understand the "irrational" emotion that Ginny had been showing all day. When the three reached the front door, Ron shook his head slightly as his Mum was about to say something. She somehow seemed to understand and didn't ask anything. She pulled each of them into a hug before silently ushering them into the house for supper.

Molly had prepared nothing short of a feast for dinner—she made enough to feed their entire family, and then some. Conversation was sparse except for Arthur, Bill, and Ron talking about Harry. They were discussing where Ron and Hermione had been today looking for him. "We checked quite a few places. Went out to Dumbledore's tomb, the cave Sirius hid out in a few years back, Hagrid's hut, the Shrieking Shack, Shell Cottage, Grimmauld Place, and even Godric's Hollow. But there was something off about Grimmauld Place," Ron explained.

Arthur had to finish the mouthful of food he had before he could question his youngest son. "What do you mean something off?"

"Well, we hid out there after Bill and Fleur's wedding," Ron started. "And we stayed there for a while before we broke into the Ministry, but that's when something initially went wrong. We were running out of the Ministry and Hermione had apparated us back to Grimmauld Place, Yaxley grabbed hold of her. She couldn't shake him loose, and we took him in the Fidelius charm, so I guess that broke it. When we went there today, we couldn't see the house at all. So maybe the Death Eaters did something to the wards."

"Hmm," Bill murmured. "Maybe Dad and I can head over to check things out. I don't think they had the experience to deal with the many different types of magic and wards placed on that house."

"Sounds like a plan," Ron said.

"Would you mind if I come too?" Hermione asked. "I would be interested in seeing how the warding works."

Arthur looked to Molly, who gave a slight nod. "Well, I guess if your mother doesn't mind, then we can take the both of you."

With the thought of Harry's disappearance weighing on their minds, the remainder of dinner was silent. They ate and ended up going to bed early. Hermione stayed with Ginny, Charlie took Bill's old room, and Bill and Fleur went home to Shell Cottage. It was a night of much needed rest, but more restful for some than others.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Molly sat at the kitchen table, sipping her cup of tea. No one was up yet and the morning was still quiet—even Arthur was still in bed. She enjoyed this time in the morning, when it was just her and her thoughts. She thought back to what Ron had said about Harry the night before…. She couldn't imagine why Harry would blame himself or think that they didn't want him in their lives. Setting her cup down, she considered the way Ginny seemed to be so distraught over Harry's whereabouts. She would need to corner Ron or Hermione sometime today about that. _I never would have thought that those two would ever realize that they were meant for each other so soon. _A creak from the stairway brought Molly out of her musings.

Charlie came down the stairs. Molly took a moment to study her son, who so much time in Romania away from his family. His hands were calloused with blisters, and it was hard to tell which burn marks and wounds were form dragon keeping and which were from the battle. _I wonder how long he will stay before going back to Romania. Maybe he won't go back, and he'll find a job closer to home,_ Molly hoped with a sigh.

"I _will_ be going back to Romania once everything is settled Mum," Charlie said with a smirk. Molly started, stunned and her son added, "I could see you thinking it when you looked at me."

"Do you have to go back Charlie?" Molly urged. "Couldn't you find a job that was safer and closer to home…?"

"It's what I love to do Mum," explained Charlie. "I have been looking for something to do with dragons closer to home, but considering their size, opportunities are limited. Speaking of which, I do have to go to Romania today to check on things. I left rather quickly, and had to put in for temporary leave."

Molly studied her son some more as they sat their drinking their tea, talking about this and that. Charlie seemed to read Molly's mind and asked, "So do you know what's going on with Ginny? She seems to be taking this business with Harry missing the hardest out of everyone. I didn't think they were that friendly."

"I have been wondering the same thing," Molly said. "I think Ron and Hermione know why."

"You don't think that Ginny and Harry dated, do you?" Charlie said lightly.

"I don't know, but it's possible," said Molly. "The way she is worried about him…" That was the end of the conversation, as the rest of the family came down for breakfast, and the day started. They had to start getting the Burrow fixed up. Hermione and Ron went to check the different places they stayed when they were on the run. Arthur and Percy had to get back to the ministry to help Kingsley. Charlie made a trip to Romania to check in on things and arrange for a short leave of absence, so he could be home with his family, at least until they buried Fred. George stayed at home, up in his room. They didn't expect him to be ready for everyday life without his twin brother. Molly had taken Ginny with her when they were looking for Harry.

By the time night was beginning to fall, the family had made their way back to the Burrow. Molly prepared a quick dinner and they sat down to discuss what went on that day. "The Ministry is such a mess," Arthur sighed. "It's going to take us months to just sort things out from the past year, let alone getting back to any kind of normalcy."

"It's going to be a lot of work. I'll definitely be staying late more often than not until this is all over," Percy said. Molly could see that her son was thoroughly worn out. She was immensely happy to see him back with the family, and to see that he had finally realized that he'd been going against what had ended up proving to be the side of the light. On the other hand, she was sad to see him so tired. She put some dinner on the table, a lovely stew, and managed to give a small comfort to each person around the table with either a quick shoulder squeeze or running her fingers through their hair. George picked through his stew, not having much of an appetite. Charlie dug in, since it had been a busy day going back and forth across the world. Bill and Fleur were eating steadily, enjoying being with the family and the home-cooked meal. Ron and Hermione were sitting rather closely, holding hands under the table the entire meal. Arthur was slumped back in his chair, his extreme exhaustion showing. It was about halfway through their meal before Charlie finally spoke up, asking the question that was on all their minds.

"So why would Harry want to run away?" He looked to each person in turn. "I mean, he just beat Voldemort, and pretty much saved all our arses, why just run away?"

At that question Molly noticed Ginny look down and tense up while she fought the tears that seemed to be right there whenever conversation turned to Harry. The voiced their speculations except Ron and Hermione, who knew Harry the best out of everyone. Finally, everyone quieted and eventually looked at Ron. Ron gave a sigh and pushed his empty bowl of stew away from him. "Well, as if you haven't already noticed, Harry has this 'saving people' complex." The other occupants of the table nodded their heads. "Well, my best guess is that he's blaming himself for everything that happened over the past few days. Lupin, Tonks, Fred, and everyone else. Knowing Harry, he probably thinks that we don't want anything to do with him, that we will blame him for F-freds death. He'll have gone away and tried to find a place where no one would look for him."

"You'd think he'd be happy, that more people didn't die, and that Voldemort is finally dead," Charlie mentioned, taking another spoonful of stew.

"I'm sure he's happy about Voldemort being dead, but not that people died for it to happen. I think with Fred's death especially he feels that we wouldn't want him anymore, but that we wouldn't move to push him away because he _did_ kill Voldemort. He would feel like he was a burden," said Arthur. Charlie and others nodded in understanding.

All of a sudden, George sat up straighter, moving his chair in the process. The whole family looked at him, a bit shocked. "That's ridiculous. I don't blame him for Fred; I blame that bleedin' Death Eater who brought down that wall. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into," George said angrily. "Sure, I'm sad that Fred's gone, I have no idea what to do anymore, but I do know that things will get better from now on."

"I know," Ron sighed. "But we have to find Harry and try to reason with him. Finding him is going to be the tricky part." With these words, the family quietly finished their dinner. George faded back to silence, but ate more food this time around.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

With Ginny and Hermione helping Molly clean up after dinner, Ron adjourned to the living room, where his father had taken up residence on the large armchair in front of the fire. They sat in companionable silence while the rest of the house was preparing to go to bed early once more. With everyone else tucked upstairs in their bedrooms, Arthur decided it was time to talk to his youngest son.

"I want to be with you when we find Harry," Arthur said quietly. Ron looked up at his father and nodded. "I want to talk to him about this little complex he has," continued Arthur.

"Yeah, go ahead and try, but Hermione and I have tried for years to talk him out of this," Ron explained with a feigned chuckle.

"Alright, well," Arthur said, removing his glasses and wiping a lens clean. "I think it's time we went up to bed, don't stay up too long with Hermione."

"What?" Ron said incredulously. He thought he had snuck around quite well last night.

"There isn't much going on in my house that I don't know about, son," he said pointedly.

"Nothing's happening," Ron insisted. They hadn't really even kissed since the heat of the battle. He just went in there and they cuddled close to one other, each other's presence a calming factor. Every once in a while they would talk, but it was more of a physical comfort. Once Hermione would drift off to sleep, he would put her under the covers and sneak up back to his bedroom, careful to avoid the two squeaking steps on the way up.

"I'm sure it isn't," Arthur said. "But either way, I'm proud of the way you have turned out, son. And I'm happy for the two of you."

"Thanks Dad," Ron said, blushing slightly. They trudged up the stairs, Arthur to his bedroom, and Ron to Hermione's.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was early the next morning when an owl delivered their mail, as well as the Daily Prophet. Molly, being the first person up, was the one to see the newspaper first. "Oh my," she gasped. The major headline read **Harry Potter: The Chosen One is Missing!** Just reading the first paragraph was enough for her to decide to get her husband up to go have Kingsley do some damage control.

_Since the final battle two days ago, no one has seen or heard from Harry Potter, the boy who defeated You-Know-Who. Inside sources at the Daily Prophet discovered that he went missing from Hogwarts during the afternoon following the battle. The Interim Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was not available for comment and Arthur Weasley (whose house Harry Potter has been known to stay at) declined comment yesterday. Speculation is that he is currently checked into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies for a mental breakdown. This is to be expected of a boy so young, doing what he had done of the past several months. Some of these activities include breaking into and practically destroying Gringotts Bank, escaping on the back of a dragon, and dueling the darkest wizard of all time. _

She couldn't read any more. Harry wasn't at St. Mungo's. Kingsley had checked the day before during his lunch break. She scanned to the end of the article to see who had written this piece of garbage. Rita Skeeter, of course. That cow liked to tear apart reputations the way a normal person likes breathing. All of a sudden, there was a wooshing sound coming from the living room; someone had come through the fireplace. "It's Kingsley, Molly." He announced himself. Molly breathed a little easier.

Molly walked out to the living room to see the Minister sitting on her couch, large bags under his bloodshot eyes. "Oh Kingsley," she sighed. "Can I get you anything?"

"Perhaps a cup of tea," he said. She gave him a small smile and went back to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She took out her wand and sent a Patronus up to Arthur, who was still dozing in their bed, informing him of Kingsley's arrival. It wasn't two minutes before she had the tea ready and 3 cups set out, and Arthur was coming down the stairs in his dressing robe. "I take it you have read the article, Molly?" Kingsley asked as she and Arthur sat down across from Kingsley. She handed the paper to her husband.

"Yes," she said, anger seeping through her forced calm voice. "That piece of filth."

"I don't know how Rita is still working for the paper," Arthur said. "She wasn't writing for years, and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of mine was responsible for that. But to come back after that atrocious book, and talk about Harry as if he were a basket case."

"Yes," Kingsley said in agreement. "Did she approach you at all, Arthur?"

"No one came up to talk to me about this," Arthur said, scratching his head, thinking about who had talked to him yesterday. "The only people who I spoke to were my son Percy, Perkins, and Auror Robards. They were talking about work, nothing about Harry."

"Well, that's just another reason we need to get rid of all the questionable people at the Ministry," Kingsley sighed. "We need to start compiling lists of people who are working here, and what they are working on, and have been working on. At least we can start there."

"I couldn't agree more, Minister," Percy said, coming down the stairs. He had heard voices down stairs and decided to come down and investigate. "I would be happy to compile that list, leaving you to get on with more important things."

"That would be a great help, Percy," Kingsley said, grateful for the offer. Molly handed the paper to her son, allowing him to get up to speed with what they were dealing with this morning. The four adults sat there, discussing their plans with the ministry, sipping their tea. It was about an hour before the rest of the house began to wake up, starting with Hermione. She got Ron out of bed and down for a spot of breakfast. Ron insisted that he could cook for them himself but Molly wouldn't have it. She collected the empty tea cups and went into the kitchen to start their breakfast. Kingsley followed her into the kitchen, leaving Arthur and Percy to talk about how they were going to be handling things at work today.

"I am sorry to be keeping Arthur and Percy so soon after the battle, after you lost your son," Kingsley said somberly. "But there aren't many people that I can still trust at this point."

"I understand. Just as long as they aren't needed the day we bury Fred," she said.

"Don't you worry about that, I will be here myself for it," Kingsley assured her. "Thanks for the tea; I have to get going now. Try to cut the head off this snake before too much damage is done."

"You're quite welcome," she said kindly. As Kingsley left, Ginny came down the stairs.

"What was Kingsley doing here?" she asked excitedly. "Did they find information on where Harry might be?"

"No dear he was just stopping by to visit," she said as she nervously looked to the newspaper sitting at the end of the table. Neither Ron nor Hermione had seen it, and the adults had stopped talking about it when they came down stairs. Molly was trying to think of a way to banish the paper without her children seeing; she knew that if she did they would want to know why. They did not need the added stress with Harry missing, especially Ginny for some reason, she still hadn't asked Ron about that, they had all been so busy lately.

Ginny started walking from the stairs to get some breakfast and saw the paper. "WHAT IS THIS, HOW'D THEY FIND OUT!" she yelled. "OH, this is complete RUBISH, all of it!"

"What's wrong?" both Hermione and Ron in unison, Ron's mouth full. Molly was worried; she could see the infuriated look on her daughter's face that she knew all too well. Again she asked herself—why? Could Ginny have feelings for Harry? They had never had a relationship that she knew of. Ginny had always had a crush on him, but she had gotten over that in her 4th year at Hogwarts. Molly decided to head this off before it could get bad.

"That cow Rita Skeeter posted an article about Harry being missing, that's why Kingsley was over here, it's all lies and you should not concern yourselves with it," stated Molly matter-of-factly.

"I'll get her for this," Hermione stated coldly. Ron just nodded. _My how these children have had to grow up over the past 2 years…_ thought Molly. She decided it was time to change the subject.

"Ginny, you and I will be going to Aunt Murial's today to pick up the rest of our stuff." Molly told her daughter. "We need to get it out of there. I don't need to hear your Aunt Murial complaining about us using her house for storage."

"Hermione and I are going to go looking again," Ron said chipped in, swallowing his mouth full of biscuit.

"You all know what we need to discuss tonight," Arthur said somberly. "When are we going to bury Fred?"

"No! We need to wait for Harry," George said. "He's a part of this family."

Arthur was taken aback at this outburst, but nodded his head in agreement. "That's quite true son, we'll wait."

George nodded his head as well. "I'm going to go with Ron and Hermione today, if that's alright with them," he said, looking at the aforementioned people for agreement. When they accepted, he continued. "I need to do something; keep my mind off of things."

"That's fine, George," Hermione affirmed. Once everyone was finished breakfast, they went on their way. Molly apparated with Ginny to Auntie Murial's house to get their stuff, as well as to endure several rants from the elderly woman. George, Ron and Hermione went on the search again for their missing friend.

The day passed along quickly with no success. That evening all the Weasleys and Hermione went over to Grimmauld Place. Bill tried all the ward detection spells that he knew, but couldn't find a thing.

"One of these should have worked," Bill said, scratching his head. He conferred briefly with his wife, who was also a curse-breaker for Gringotts now, but neither one of them could come up with a possible explanation as to why none of the detection spells worked.

"Well, maybe he didn't come back here," George said. "Maybe he went back to the place he stayed with those Muggles. Weren't they put into protection or somethin'?"

"Maybe," Arthur sighed, shaking his head. He really wanted to find Harry, to know if he was alright, safe, unharmed. "Let's go." The family paired up and apparated over to Number 4 Privet Drive, but the residence was deserted. It was trashed on the inside, doors broken and items thrown all about, but there was no sign of Harry.

They went back to the house, where they all had a quick dinner and went to bed. The tension was high, and everyone was worried about Harry. No one knew where else to look, but they would keep looking until they found him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 

Ron was starting to get really worried for his friend. Harry had been missing for 3 days now without a trace. Kingsley had to release a statement that Harry Potter was indeed missing and no one knew where he was. Ron was also worried for his sister; she was becoming increasingly worse as the days passed on. She spent most of her time in her room softly crying. He had tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to work. The most he could do was keep his mum from bothering her about Harry. He hauled himself out of bed to start another day of tension and grief.

The first order of business was to go to Colin Creevey's funeral service. The rest of the morning passed by much in the same manner as the one before—everyone had their jobs to do and there wasn't much to say. They checked over some of the places they first looked on Tuesday morning with the same results: nothing. It was almost lunch time, so they decided to head back to The Burrow to eat.

When they got home for lunch, Ron was surprised that his father was home as well. "Dad, what are you doing home?"

"Just needed to get out of the Ministry for a bit," Dad said, enjoying his corn beef sandwich. "Did you have any luck today?"

"Nah," Ron said, going over to make himself a sandwich. "I wish we had Kreacher to help us."

"Why would you want that nasty old thing helping?" Ginny questioned, coming down the stairs. She had been putting her things away from Auntie Murial's when she heard more voices down in the kitchen.

"Kreacher?" Hermione asked. "He's quite nice now."

"What?" Ginny said. "He kept calling all of us names. Didn't he betray Sirius?"

"He's changed, Ginny," Ron said. "We hid out there for a while after the wedding. Once we got things explained, he was right helpful, he was."

"He's a really good cook as well," Hermione said. "He, umm, helped us find something, something that… that Mundungus Fletcher had stolen." Everyone but Ron glanced at Hermione, curious about the stumbles over her wording. "Kreacher tracked him down and brought him to Grimmauld Place."

"Y'know, I thought I saw Kreacher when I was going up to Gryffindor Tower to look for Harry," Ginny said suddenly. "I thought I was seeing things, but maybe not."

"Did you see Harry at all then?" Hermione asked.

"Well, no, but you said he had his invisibility cloak on, right?" Ginny said, thinking back to a few days ago, trying desperately to remember what she had seen.

"That's it!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

"What is it Hermione?" inquired Arthur.

"Well," Hermione started "Not only are we unable to see Grimmauld Place anymore, we can't find any trace of it at all! How could I not have seen it before!"

"Would you mind sharing 'it' with the rest of us, Hermione," asked Ginny impatiently.

"Oh, it's simple really, it's Elf magic," said Hermione proudly. "Harry could have had Kreacher close up the house or something. Harry is the head of the house now, and who knows what Elf magic is capable of? It was quite amazing the things that Dobby was able to do..." She trailed of at the mention of Dobby, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"What's the matter Hermione?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Um, well," sniffed Hermione "it's just that, well, Dobby died rescuing the three of us from M-malfoy M-manor." As Hermione said this she looked over at Ron, saw him deep in thought, a grin starting to spread from his lips, and yelled— "And what are you grinning at RONALD!?"—just as Ginny was beginning to ask what happened at Malfoy Manor.

"I've just had an idea," Ron said. "You remember when we were at Grimmauld Place, and Harry told Kreacher that he was to answer us the same as him?"

A look of understanding lit up Hermione's eyes, and a grin to match Ron's lighting up her face. "Ron…that's brilliant!"

"Yea well ya'know," Ron said with a slight blush, then yelled:

"_Kreacher!_"

**Thanks for reading. Addictedheartache likes cliffhangers**


	3. A Welcome Betrayal

**A/N: This chapter is written mostly by Addictedheartache and revised by me. As always it is edited by his lovley wife.**

*******The world of HP belongs to JK, we're just playing in it.***

"How in Merlin's name did that Potter brat defeat the Dark Lord?" a harsh voice spat out. The room was dimly lit and two people were sitting at a small table drinking from tumblers filled with fire whiskey. The small light was swinging slightly from the ceiling, the pair were sitting in an abandoned warehouse in the back streets of Knockturn Alley. No one was paying them any mind.

"Not quite sure," a second person chimed in, a bit softer spoken than the first. "But did you hear Him talk about that Elder wand? The one from the _Beetle and the Bard_, 'The Three Brothers,' we used to hear as kids?"

"It wasn't working right for Him was it?" the second person said, and you could practically hear the sneer in their voice. "That would mean the Potter kid's got it now."

"Where is the kid? Paper said no one could find 'im," the first person said, sounding gravelly now. They took another large swallow of firewhiskey.

"No one can find him, at least no one at the Ministry," the second person confirmed. "The blood traitors or that pathetic excuse for a Minister, Shacklebolt."

"Yeah, what were they thinking putting him in charge of things," the first person scoffed. "What are we going to do about Potter?"

"We take our time," the second person said smoothly. "Patience will be the key."

"Hmm?" the first person questioned.

"The Dark Lord was stupid with his obsession; wanting to kill Potter himself," the second person explained, condescendingly. "We can do it without putting ourselves at a greater risk. It might take a bit longer than you were hoping, but the results will be worth it."

"We'll wait and gather our forces, wait to strike then," the first person agreed. The room was slowly filled with maniacal laughter, softly at first, then growing so that the sounds echoed off the walls of the dank little room in which they sat.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Harry was walking down the stairs in the Burrow to the kitchen when he heard crying. _'What's going on, I thought I was at Grimmauld Place?'_ Harry thought as he shook his head and continued down the stairs; the crying was getting even louder as he reached the floor where Ginny's bedroom was. He looked in and saw her sitting on the bed, holding her head as the tears flowed

"G-g-ginny?" whispered Harry. "I-I'm so sorry, I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"Sorry isn't good enough, it's all your fault!" yelled Ginny, the venom dripping from her voice. Her usually sparkling brown eyes were bloodshot and tear-filled. "You got Fred killed, you didn't take care of Voldemort fast enough, you LEFT ME all alone!"

"Ginny, I'm so—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Ginny railed at him. "I don't EVER want to see you again!" she yelled as she slammed the door shut in his face.

Harry was quite startled at this reaction but staggered down the stairs and saw Mrs. Weasley sitting at the kitchen table crying while Mr. Weasley held her. George was sitting in the corner with a blank look in his face.

"YOU! What are you doing here?" Mrs. Weasley shouted. "Get out of my house! Only family and friends are allowed here, you're not welcome!" Harry stood there with his mouth hanging open.; Mrs. Weasley, the women who had always welcomed him with open arms didn't want him anymore. Could he blame her, after all that he had done? Ginny with the diary her first year, stealing the car to get to Hogwarts in his second year, attacking Mr. Weasley with the snake, Ron getting poisoned, and the icing on the cake, Fred, he got Fred killed.

"M-mrs. Weasley, I didn't mean for any of this to happen I…I…" Harry stumbled against the wall, a pleading look, and tears streaming down his face. "Please forgive me, please, PLEASE!" Bill, Charlie, and Percy had walked in through the back door and were glaring at him.

"You must pay the price for the pain you have caused our family," Bill announced as he and everyone in the room raised their wands, aiming them at Harry. He turned around and saw Ginny at the top of the stairs pointing her wand at him. He saw a flash of green light erupting from her wand. He felt his world shake…

"NOOOO!" Harry yelled, . he felt something shaking him/

"Master must wake up! pleasePlease, ! Kreacher is worried, Master must wake up!" croaked Kreacher.

"I'm awake, Kreacher, I'm awake. Kreacher" Harry had to say it twice to make kreacher Kreacher stop shaking him.

Harry sat up on the couch and the blanket that was on himKreacher had covered him with fell down to his lap; he. He went to pick it up and throw it off of himself. It was soaked. Harry could feel his shirt – which had been on since the battle – clinging to his body; it was colored stained all kinds of different colors, most notably the area around his chest was tinged red. He didn't remember getting wounded there, but then again it wouldn't have shocked him that he was bleeding from somewhere on his person. Harry reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead and realized his hands were shaking.

_What is wrong with me!? _Harry thought. _It's all my fault they're all dead. It's my fault. If only I…_ _Get a grip Potter. _Something distracted Harry, something pulling on his leg.

"Master must get up, please Master Harry; it's not good to sleep on the couch."

"I'm up Kreacher!" snapped Harry. He noticed Kreachers ears droop as he backed away. "Kreacher I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's ok Master, Kreacher understands," croaked Kreacher cautiously. "Kreacher hopes Master won't be mad. Kreacher cleaned the bedroom on this floor for Master to use since Master is weak. Kreacher is sorry he did not clean the master bedroom." Kreacher looked worriedly at Harry. _Why is he so afraid of me?_ thought Harry.

"Th..thank you," Harry mumbled. "You did well Kreacher, it's ok. I appreciate it. It's just that I wish, I wish things were different; that no one had to die, and me and Ginny could be together again. But none of that is possible anymore. They won't want anything to do with me now." Harry felt sorry for venting to Kreacher like this, but what was he supposed to do? "I'm going to take a shower."

"Kreacher will prepare Master Harry's bath," croaked Kreacher as he waved his hand and food appeared on the table in the sitting room. "Master should eat something, Kreacher is sorry it's not much. Kreacher cannot gets funds for food. Kreacher will get Master's bath ready." Harry watched as Kreacher walked from the room. He was still amazed at the change in the little elf. Harry looked down at the soup Kreacher had made for him. He was mesmerized by the steam curling up from the hot liquid, watching the spirals disappear into the air. Soon his stomach gave a grumble. Figuring that he should feed himself, Harry grabbed the spoon and slowly took a few mouthfuls of hot soup. It was good, but he knew that if he took more than half of the soup, he would get sick. A few more spoonfuls and he pushed the bowl away.

Harry got up and made his way to the bathroom. His whole body ached, everything was stiff and it took a lot out of him just to make it into the hall. Kreacher was just putting a towel on the rack for him

"Does Master want Kreacher to get your Wheezey? And Miss Ginny?" Kreacher questioned. "They is looking for you, they's worried."

"No," mumbled Harry. "No one will want to see me, and I don't deserve to see them."

"But Mas—"

"I said NO Kreacher," Harry said firmly. "Please leave me alone for now Kreacher… Thank you again for the food."

"You're welcome Master."

Harry watched as Kreacher bowed and leftout of the bathroom. Why was he so mean to the little elf? Kreacher was just trying to help. _He just doesn't understand why I can't go back, why they won't want me._ As Harry started to pull his shirt up over his head he could feel it stick to his skin and pull at some of the cuts where it they had started to heal. It took him a few minutes just to get the shirt off without doing much more damage and when he did, . When he was finally free of his shirt, he turned to toss it to the floor by the door. When As Harry turned, he almost lost his balance, barely catching himself on the vanity.

Harry looked up to see himself in the mirror. The image that wasboy staring back at him looked nothing like he did last summer. His eyes were sunken with black rims around them, his cheeks were hollow. The sweat caked with dirt and blood seemed to cover his whole face, it almost looked like the scar on his forehead had bled but it was hard to tell. Moving down his body, he noticed an oval shaped burn mark where the locket had pressed against his skin when he went through the icy pond to get the sword of Gryffindor. Even that seemed dull compared to all the burns from the Gringotts vault—those were all different shapes and sizes.

Harry gasped when he saw what had been bleeding through his shirt. Over his heart was another lightning-shaped scar just like the one on his forehead. This was where Voldemort had hit him with the killing curse. Right over his heart. Harry thought back to those last moments before the killing curse hit him. He had thought only of Ginny, and the feel of her lips, a feeling he thought he would never get to experience again. Frustration surged within Harry. Harry punched the mirror. The mirror shattered in its frame with some kind of magic holding the pieces in. Harry looked down at his hand which was now bleeding.

"Good job, you bloody idiot," Harry mumbled to himself. He rinsed off his hand and finished taking his clothes off. Finally, removing his glasses, he stepped into the tub and sank into the water. The hot water seeping into his body started to relax muscles he hadn't even known were tense. After soaking awhile, Harry managed to stand up, drain the tub, turn the shower on, and start scrubbing his body. After scrubbing away the sweat, blood, and dirt, Harry shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed the towel, noticing that it was nice and warm; Kreacher must have put a warming charm on it. Once Harry was dry, he put his glasses back on and noticed that Kreacher must have repaired the mirror and brought him clean clothes.

Putting his clothes back on, Harry suddenly felt very weak. Stumbling to the bedroom that Kreacher had prepared, Harry fell into bed and promptly fell asleep, fully clothed and on top of the covers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Harry was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, the battle raging around him. Ginny, Hermione, and Luna were dueling Bellatrix, she was easily handling all three of the girls. The killing curse just barely missed Ginny. Something wasn't right. Where was Mrs. Weasley? She should have stepped in by now? Harry spun around looking for Mrs. Weasley. Her lifeless body was lying over Fred's. Harry turned his attention back to the duel. Luna was on the ground now, her eyes misted over. Hermione and Ginny now fought frantically, barley holding it together. Another green flash and Hermione was down. Bellatrix's cackle could be heard throughout the Great Hall. Harry's decision was made, he had to help Ginny; if he lost her, all would be lost; whether he died or lived wouldn't matter. He threw off his cloak and yelled for Ginny. She turned to look at him and smiled an empty smile as she slumped to the ground, dead._

"NOOOOO, GINNY, NOOOOO!" Harry sat up screaming, sweat was pouring down his face. He wiped the sweat away and reached for his glasses. He didn't remember taking them off last night. He found them and put them on. Reaching for the gas lamp, he turned it on and saw Kreacher sleeping in the chair next to his bed. Now that Harry was up he realized he really had to use the loo. Harry started to get out of bed, trying not to wake Kreacher. _Poor little guy must have sat watch over me all night. He must have removed my glasses for me, and put the covers over me._

"Master is awake," croaked Kreacher sleepily. "Kreacher will have supper ready for Master." The old elf said warily as he jumped down off the chair and headed for the kitchen.

"Supper," mumbled Harry. "Kreacher, what day is it?"

"Sunday night, Master."

He had slept that long? Harry got up to use the bathroom. Washing his hands, he saw the tiny little cuts all over his fist. He looked up, remembering that he had punched the mirror in his frustration. He would have to deal with the loss of Ginny… there was no other options, he couldn't get her back. She wouldn't want him back.

The smell of Kreachers cooking reached him up on the first floor. Harry slowly made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. Kreacher had set a plate with pork chops and roast potatoes for him at the table, a treacle tart sitting on a separate plate. Harry's stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten much in the past few days, so he sat down and dug in. Harry made quick work of the meal prepared by Kreacher. By the time he was finished, his stomach hurt. He definitely had eaten more than he was used to.

Once he finally looked up around the kitchen, images came to him of when the house was the headquarters for the Order. He saw Sirius sitting at the head of the table, Molly at the stove making their next meal. Tonks would trip down the last stair and Remus was there every time to catch her. Fred and George would be off in the corner talking with their heads together, planning the next item for their impending joke shop. He remembered laughing at the twin's antics once they were allowed to do magic outside of school, apparating all over the house, much to the annoyance of Mrs. Weasley. Most importantly, he remembered that this was where Ginny had started talking to him. There were a lot of fond memories in this house, and they did make him perk up a bit at first. After a moment, however, it just made him feel worse.

Harry started to get frustrated. He may have defeated Voldemort, but his life was reduced to nothing. Harry chucked the plate across the kitchen and tried to get up, stumbling over the chair and falling face first against the floor.

"Master, Master is you all right? Kreacher didn't mean to make Master mad. Kreacher is a bad elf, Kreacher will punish himself," croaked Kreacher. Harry crawled into a kneeling position and was leaning over holding his head.

"NO!" Harry commanded Kreacher. "I order you to not punish yourself, ever."

"Yes, Master, as Master commands." Harry stumbled up the stairs to the bedroom only to find the bed had been remade with the sheets turned down. He was such a burden on that poor little old house elf. He wondered how long it would take Kreacher to leave. Harry took off his clothes and slipped into bed, falling into another nightmare-haunted sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Monday passed in much the same way Sunday had. Whenever he was reminded of times with friends and those he considered family, he would punch or throw whatever was nearest. His hands were covered with tiny scrapes, never getting the chance to properly heal. After breaking something for the umpteenth time, he would find it had been repaired yet again by Kreacher. Kreacher had stopped trying to talk to Harry other than 'Yes, Master' or 'No, Master,' though Kreacher would never fail to have a cooked meal and clean clothes ready for him. Kreacher also changed the bedsheets daily, because every time Harry got up the bed was soaked with sweat.

Harry awoke Tuesday morning dripping in sweat again. He walked to the bathroom, turning on the faucet. He had been dreaming that they had missed a Horcrux and Voldemort had killed everyone that Harry had loved. The entire Weasley family had lain at his feet dead. Ginny's eyes open and staring at him almost asking why, Hermione lying next to Ron. Everyone that had fought for him had died, for nothing.

He shook his head and splashed water onto his face, it was just a dream, and Voldemort was dead for good. People had died… friends, family… too many people. Harry looked up at the mirror and really took the time to look at himself. While they were on the run, he hadn't noticed that he had aged, and he wasn't the same person who left the Burrow all those months ago. His face had a sickly color to it, and he could see the growth of hair across his entire jaw line. Harry staggered back to his room to see that Kreacher had already re-made the bed. On the nightstand next to his three wands was a plate with toast and a cup of pumpkin juice. He took a few bites of toast and drank about half the glass of juice and fell back into a nightmare-riddled sleep.

Harry awoke Tuesday night to damp sheets yet again; he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, figuring he should take another shower. Finishing up his shower, Harry shut it off and stepped out. He reached for a towel but it wasn't there. _Weird_ thought Harry, Kreacher always had a towel warmed and waiting for me. Maybe he finally got sick of me and left. _I wouldn't blame him._

Harry walked slowly back to his room and grabbed a wand, performing a drying charm on himself. Harry sent a scouring charm at his clothes from the night before. Usually Kreacher took his clothes and cleaned them, and left new ones lying out for him to put on. Harry decided to go looking for Kreacher. Pocketing his wand and putting his glasses on, he headed to the basement kitchen.

As he rounded the stairs on the ground floor he heard voices in the kitchen and a light coming from below. Harry walked cautiously to the top of the stairs straining to hear what was going on below.

"Thank you, Kreacher," said a low voice Harry recognized as Ron's. _What was Ron doing here? How did he get here?_

"My, he really has changed, you and Hermione weren't kiddin," exclaimed another voice. Harry noted that it was Mr. Weasley's.

"Would Mister Weezey like more tea?" croaked Kreacher.

"No, thank you," Ron said. Harry couldn't believe his ears. Ron and Arthur were here. _How did they get in?_ _Kreacher said the house was sealed no one could get in or out unless Kreacher brought them in._ His anger building, Harry walked silently down the stairs withdrawing his wand. He saw the back of Arthur sitting at the kitchen table, with Ron standing on the other side

"As I was saying, Dad I don't think you will get throu—" Ron had started to say but cut off as he saw Harry at the bottom of the stairs. Arthur must have seen the worried expression on Ron's face and started to turn around in his chair.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Harry, aiming his wand directly at Ron's chest. His hands were shaking with anger and fear.

"Harry, you look like hell—" Ron started putting his hands up in a defensive gesture. Harry cut him off.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked again, his blood shot eyes taking turns staring at each of the Weasleys, but ending back on Ron. Harry noticed Kreacher had backed into the corner.

"Kreacher brought us here," Ron said slowly, taking small, slow steps toward Harry. "I remembered hearing you tell him that he should obey us, well… at least Hermione and me, as he does you. I called him and asked him if he knew where you were." Harry raised his wand menacingly, making Ron stop in his tracks.

"We just wanted to know that you were safe," Arthur said, leaning back against the wooden table. "You are as much a part of this family as the rest of my children." Those words, 'part of this family,' hit Harry like a train. Why would they care about him? They had to hate him, he had brought them so much pain and misery. The walls Harry had put up started to crack.

"Kreacher is sorry, Master," croaked Kreacher. "Kreacher was only trying to help Master. They was looking for you, and when Mister Weezey summoned Kreacher, Kreacher thought that Master would be happy to have his Weezeys." Harry's anger flared at Kreacher's words. He had ordered the elf to not let anyone in!

"How dare you disobey my orders, Kreacher," yelled Harry. The look on Kreacher's face as tears started to fall from his big eyes crushed Harry.

"Harry, Molly and I don't blame you for what happened to Fred," Arthur stated flat out.

"B…but I have caused you so much trouble," Harry strained to say, lowering his wand but still gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Kreacher was now on the floor, crying that he had disobeyed his master.

"Kreacher won't punish himself, Master forbids it, Kreacher is a bad elf he disobeyed master!" Kreacher wailed.

"Harry, I don't care what you say or think, none of us blame you for Fred's death," Arthur said, getting up from his chair and taking a cautious step towards Harry. "We don't blame you. Not at all. We all knew what we were getting into. Even Fred."

Arthur was now within arms reach of him, but Harry couldn't find the strength to look up at him, or even to back away. He was ashamed, and that shame held him in place. The walls Harry had built up started to crumble a bit more. Harry tried one more time. "But, what about George?"

"Harry, son," Arthur said, placing his hands on Harrys shoulders. "Look at me, Harry." Harry slowly raised his head to look into Arthur's eyes. He looked tired, like he had not slept much in the past few days. "George was actually the one to say that we couldn't bury Fred until we found you. He said that you're part of our family, and I have to say that I agree with him. Molly and I have always thought of you as one of our children." At this Harry almost fell to the ground, but as he fell, Arthur managed to catch him and pull him into a hug. Harry just stood there and started to cry tears for those that had died for him.

"But he is dead," Harry rasped between breaths. "I-If I had gone out to Voldemort sooner, then Fred might not have died."

"We all could live in the 'should have' world, but it's not healthy," Arthur said, holding on to Harry. "The way you have been living for the past few days is not healthy. You need to be around people who love you, who want you to be around." _They loved him? They wanted him around?_

Harry realized that Kreacher was still on the floor, now hiccupping between the tears that fell for disobeying his master. He let go of Arthur and walked over to Kreacher. "It's ok, Kreacher, I'm sorry I yelled. You did the right thing, it's fine. You did the right thing again. Thank you, Kreacher."

Kreacher sat up, eyes bleary and red. "Kreacher is sorry, Master Harry," hiccupped Kreacher. Harry patted Kreacher on the shoulder.

"Ginny is pretty upset that you have been missing, Harry," Ron said. Harry saw Arthur watching him.

"I – I didn't m-mean to cause people t-t-to worry, especially her," Harry stammered, his cheeks taking on a pinkish tint.

"Harry, come home with us," Ron practically pleaded. Harry looked at his best friend, who looked more worried than Harry had ever seen him.

"Alright, I'd like that," Harry sighed, running his hand through his messy hair. Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he has been holding. They wanted him around; they didn't hate him. Most importantly Ginny missed him; maybe he still had a chance. "Kreacher?"

"Yes, Master Harry?" Kreacher hiccupped.

"Could you please reverse the spell on the house?" Harry said quietly. "We will figure out the proper security measures later, but for now, friends and family are welcome here."

"Kreacher will do as Master bids," Kreacher said, bowing low to Harry.

Harry turned to the Weasleys, "Let me just grab a few things and then I should be ready to go." Arthur nodded as he and Ron took a seat at the kitchen table, while Harry ran up the stairs to get the few things that he actually had.

Harry entered the bedroom and grabbed the moleskin pouch that Hagrid had given him so long ago for his seventeenth birthday. He put Draco's and the Elder wand into the pouch, followed by what little clothes he had left. Besides what he was wearing, he had one pair of jeans and two t-shirts. He walked back down the stairs to the kitchen. "Ok, I got everything," he said, patting the moleskin pouch around his neck.

"Let's be getting home then, Molly should have supper ready soon," Arthur said as he stood up, taking out a small bag of floo powder. Harry couldn't wait to get back to the Burrow and have some of Molly cooking. Even though Kreacher was good now, it still did not beat Molly's home cooked meals. _I hope she has treacle tart, _thought Harry.

Taking a small handful of floo powder, and handing the bag to Ron, the Weasley patriarch threw it into the flames and shouted "**The Burrow**!"

In the blink of an eye, he was gone; swallowed by the green flames. Ron handed the bag to Harry, after taking a small handful and followed his father. Harry took out some floo powder from the bag and tucked it safely in a pocket of his trousers. He looked around the sitting room and saw Kreacher standing at the entrance. "Kreacher, you did the right thing," Harry said again. "Letting the Weasleys here wasn't a bad thing. I shouldn't be gone for too long, and I will call if I need anything."

Kreacher nodded and bowed to his master before exiting the room. Harry turned back to face the fireplace. He would definitely be coming back here. Harry knew that he couldn't stay at the Burrow forever, even if that was what he knew Molly secretly wanted. Yeah, he would be back here and relatively soon he would wager.

With that thought Harry threw the powder into the fire and yelled "**The Burrow**!"

***Thanks for reading***


	4. To Be Home Agian

**Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. We kind of fell behind with some other things. We are working on editing the next chapter, but it does take time. This Chapter is written by Addictedheartache and revised by me. And as always it is edited by his wife. Hope you enjoy! please let us know.**

***The world of HP belongs to JK, we're just playing in it.***

It was around midnight when Harry stumbled out of the floo into the Burrow's sitting room. Molly immediately engulfed him in one of her bone-crushing hugs. Harry could see Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Arthur standing back a-ways. Everyone seemed shocked at his haggard appearance.

"I've been so worried about you, Harry," said Molly. She held him at arm's length, looking him up and down. "My, you look thinner than ever before. We are just going to have to fatten you up." Harry nodded at this—he couldn't find the ability to speak.

A loud commotion came from the kitchen, and Harry heard a familiar voice—Hermione's—yell, "Give him time, Ginny, he's been through a lot!"

Ginny came bursting from the door into the kitchen, a broad grin lighting up her face as she saw Harry. She just ran straight towards him. Harry took a startled step back.

As Harry started to say, "G-ginny," she had lunged into him knocking him backwards. Harry hadn't realized when he took a startled step back he was only inches away from the fire place and as Ginny collided with him his head smacked against the mantle and everything went black.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Harry opened his eyes and couldn't figure out where he was. Feeling quite disoriented, he looked around for something familiar. His head was pounding. He reach for the side table, having trouble finding it without his glasses, he finally found it, grabbed his glasses, he put them on. Clarity swam across his vision. Harry could make out that he was in Ron's room, with the orange walls and the Chudley Cannons posters.

"I wouldn't try to sit up if I were you, mate," Ron said. Harry turned to see him sitting on his bed. "You took quite a knock to the head last night."

"W-what happened?" stuttered Harry, shaking his head to clear the last of the fuzziness. "Why does my head hurt?"

"Well, when you came through the fireplace, umm, Ginny was a little too happy to see you, and she uh kinda knocked you into the mantle," explained Ron. "You should have seen the lump on the back of your head! Ginny was hysterical afterwards. Luckily, Mum was able to reduce most of the swelling and damage, but you'll probably have a wicked headache for the rest of the day." Harry reached behind his head to feel where the bump would be, wincing as he located the tender spot. Harry started to sit up, the pain he was feeling was nothing in comparison with the way his scar burned.

"Whoa, Mum said you shouldn't sit up first thing in the morning," exclaimed Ron as Harry was trying to get up. "At least don't be so quick about it."

"Ron, the pain is nothing compared to what I went through with Voldemort," Harry explained. Sitting up, he sighed and looked up at Ron; he sat there with pajama pants that were as always too short and a t-shirt on. Harry could see that in just three days since the battle, Ron's face had filled back in more, probably thanks to Molly's cooking, and that he wasn't as pale as he had been. The gash across his face was now only a slightly pink mark, which would probably not leave a scar at this point. The burns from Gringotts had faded and were almost gone. "Look Ron I… I'm sorry for—"

Ron cut him off saying, "It's nothing mate, don't worry about it. We're good." Ron extended his hand to Harry. He reached for it and shook his best mate's hand, looking into each other's eyes and nodding. In so little words they came to an understanding. Having been through so much over the last seven years will do that to you.

"So, umm, what have I missed?"

"Not much honestly, we spent most of our time, well, looking for you." Harry tried to cut in with an apology but, Ron continued on over him. "Like I said mate, it's done with. As I was saying, we spent a lot of time searching for you, but also putting the Burrow back together. It was pretty trashed when we got back here. And Dad and Percy have been at the Ministry every day since the battle for like fifteen hours every day." Harry nodded at all of this. He didn't think everyone one else in the family would be so quick to forgive him as Ron was.

"I… I…"Harry trailed off, not sure of what to say, but knowing that apologizing again would just agitate Ron. "Do you know what the plans are for the funerals? I should probably go to them." Harry didn't say 'go to them and apologize for getting them killed,' but that was why he wanted to go.

"Well, most are done already. You just missed Colin's. It was yesterday afternoon. Me, Hermione, and Ginny went to it…" Ron trailed off, wiping away the tears that had started to fall. "You know that little kid always annoyed me with his damn camera," Ron said with a watery chuckle.

"Yea, I would give anything to have him taking a picture of me out of nowhere now," Harry replied softly. "He was a brave kid, he shouldn't have even been there. He was underage, he should have listened to McGonagall." Ron nodded his head. Although Colin had been in the DA, he was still underage, and probably lacked knowledge of spells that could have protected him in the battle.

"Lupin and Tonks. Their funeral will be tomorrow in Godrics Hollow, and Fred's will be the day after, now that you're back."

"I plan on going to Lupin and Tonks' funeral," Harry said as he stood up, feeling only mildly dizzy. "I really am sorry Ron."

"I said it's in the past," Ron said as he stood up. "You've had a lot to deal with over the last year. Just do me a favor—if you're gonna run away again, you tell Ginny. I don't want to deal with that again! She was mental, I tell you."

"Deal," Harry chuckled, and then continued seriously and in a low voice, "She really missed me that much?" Ron nodded. "Ron, I…umm…I, well, you see, umm," Harry started to say, his cheeks turning red.

"Harry, I know you still like my sister. I think I understand why you did what you did, but that doesn't mean I liked it! But I think I do understand. And I know that she only wants to be with you."

"Thanks mate," Harry said choking up a bit. Harry was quite shocked at the maturity that Ron was showing, thinking that Hermione had had a great deal of influence on him. "I think I'm going to go get a shower and then head downstairs." Harry took a step forward and pulled Ron into a hug, whispering, "Thank you for everything, I couldn't have done it without you." With that Harry left for the bathroom, leaving a stunned Ron standing in the middle of the room, rubbing the back of his neck and looking embarrassed.

Harry walked down the stairs to the bathroom. He grabbed a towel from beneath the sink, put it on the towel rack, removed his clothes, and looked at himself in the mirror. He still looked like hell, and he noted that the scar on his chest was bleeding again. _How much has that been bleeding?_ Harry thought. The burns from Gringotts had seemed to have faded a bit. He still had the tiny cuts on top of cuts on his hands. He removed his glasses and set them on the vanity. Harry got into the shower and quickly scrubbed himself clean. Getting out, he grabbed the towel and noticed it was warm, and that a fresh pair of clothes was sitting there waiting for him. _Kreacher you crazy elf, thank you so much,_ Harry silently thanked Kreacher, knowing it was his doing. A noise came from Harry's stomach and he knew it was time to eat, so he quickly got dressed and made his way down to the kitchen.

When Harry entered the kitchen there was a large spread of kippers, buttered toast, eggs, and bacon already on the table. Molly was at the stove cooking more food, even though there was already enough to feed the family two times over. Arthur was sitting at one end of the table with the _Daily Prophet _in front of him, seemingly tuned out to everything else that was going on. Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other on the opposite side of the table. Charlie was sitting near the end with his father. The kitchen went quiet when they realized he was standing there.

"Morning, everyone," Harry said quietly, keeping his head down, not really looking anyone in the eye.

"Good morning, Harry dear," Molly said as she rounded the table to Harry, ushering him into a seat and filling his plate with everything that was on the table. "How are you feeling?" she questioned, that soft maternal look on her face; she was just taking care of another one of her kids.

"Th-thank you Mrs. Weasley, I'm feeling fine," Harry barely got out. Harry started to dig into his food. He was on his second plate when he felt someone slide in next to him at the table. He looked over and saw Ginny, her brown eyes red from crying and her blazing red hair exploding from a ponytail.

"I'm sorry about last night Harry," Ginny said, her voice barley above a whisper. Her cheeks colored slightly, and she kept her gaze now focused on her plate.

"It's nothing…" Harry mumbled as Ginny started preparing her plate. A short while later when Harry was on his third plate of food, he realized Ginny had moved closer to him and taken his hand in hers under the table. Harry did not even remember how that had happened, but he did not want to question it or move that hand for fear that he wouldn't get it back. It was so peaceful to be able to hold Ginny's hand again; just the touch of her against him was enough to hold back the regret for everything that happened. He had Ginny, didn't he? He wasn't sure yet. They needed to talk... He hoped they could just pick up where they had left off. For the first time since Dumbledore's funeral, Harry had hope for him and Ginny.

"When I spoke to the Minister last night, he said he wanted to come over for dinner and talk with you three about what you have been up to," Arthur spoke up, breaking Harry from his thoughts.

"NO, Arthur!" Molly yelled, as if her husband had just suggested that the Minister was going to take away all of her children. "We just found Harry and they haven't had enough time to recover. They need more time before being asked all kinds of questions! Haven't they all been through enough already?"

"Calm down Molly, I understand," Arthur admonished his wife. "But unfortunately, the wizarding world wants answers about what's been going on. And Kingsley has been able to keep them at bay so far, but he can't for much longer. Moreover, the stories about Harry's disappearance are getting more outlandish with each edition, not to mention the pressure Kingsley has from the ministry to find out what happened."

"I know," sighed Molly. "But it's just not fair to them. They have been through so much, especially Harry." During this whole exchange Ron and Hermione had kept silent and were looking at Harry. Why were they waiting for him to make the decisions still? The war was over.

"I'm fine. We should talk to Kingsley anyway," Harry said, looking up at Arthur. "Actually, everyone in the family has a right to know what happened this past year, and what Dumbledore's mission was." Harry looked to Molly. "I'm assuming everyone will be here for dinner?"

"Only Bill and Fleur are back at their place, I will floo them and invite them over tonight. I still don't think it's a good idea," grumped Molly, wringing her hands in agitation.

"Well, I'd better get going to work," Arthur sighed after he finished his breakfast. He stood up and looked at Harry. "Okay, Harry, could I, umm, see you outside before I leave?" Arthur asked cautiously.

Harry looked up at him and nodded nervously. He didn't know if he had done something wrong. "Yes, sir," mumbled Harry as he stood up from the table, Ginny giving his hand a squeeze before letting go. How he wished he could keep Ginny's hand in his forever. Arthur was already at the door waiting for Harry, so he quickly followed him out the door and along the path. When they were out of earshot of the house, Arthur turned around to face Harry.

Arthur sighed, then said, "So, Harry how long have you and my daughter been together?" Harry was flabbergasted; this was not what he was expecting. _Were they that obvious at the table during breakfast? _Harry quickly tried to figure out what to say to Arthur about himself and Ginny. Were they still together?

"I, umm, that is well we, umm, we started, umm…" Harry rambled as he dropped his eyes to the ground, knowing his face was beet red. Arthur just stood watching him. Harry knew he had to tell Arthur everything; he couldn't lie or hold anything back from the family who cared for him. _What have I done? They invite me into their home for the past seven years, let me stay under their roof and here I am, wanting to snog Ginny senseless and, and…_ Harry's cheeks turned even redder at the thought of him and Ginny snogging. He didn't see it because he was looking towards the ground but Arthur had a slight smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye—he had a feeling he knew what had just passed through Harry's mind.

"Easy, son, I just want to know the whole story. It's pretty obvious that you like my daughter," Arthur said calmly, trying to help Harry relax.

"Thanks, sir. Well, it kinda happened out of nowhere. It was after we won the Quidditch cup my sixth year. I had detention on Saturday and I couldn't play, so Ginny had played Seeker in my place. When I came back to the common room after they won the match, we just k…kissed. We dated until… until Dumbledore's funeral. Then I, umm, broke up with her," Harry mumbled the last part. He was afraid that Arthur would get mad, but he just nodded at him to continue. "I broke up with her because I had a mission from Dumbledore to complete, and I knew that if they knew we were together, then they would try and get to me through her, and I couldn't put her in harm's way. But the thought of being able to get back to her, be with her, is what kept me going all last year. I just hope she will take me back."

"I see," Arthur said placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Well, that does explain why she was so upset last summer, but wouldn't talk about it. You know Harry, most fathers have a very hard time when their daughter starts dating boys, but I couldn't be happier with Ginny's choice. I wish you the best of luck—trust me, you're gonna need it!" Arthur paused for a second then said, "I don't think you will have a problem with her taking you back, but if for some reason the two of you don't work out, you are always welcome here. You know that, right?" Harry simply nodded in response, he couldn't speak right now. Arthur had spoken of his worst fear: that if it didn't work between him and Ginny, he would lose the closest thing he had to a family. Harry was also quite glad that he wasn't getting his arse kicked for being with Ginny and not telling her family.

Harry looked up at Arthur, who was still smiling slightly. "Thank you sir, that… means a lot to me." Arthur patted Harry's shoulder and dropped his arm.

"Now Harry, I would recommend you talk to Ginny and that both of you let her mother know. If you wait too long, she _will_ get mad when she find outs. Oh, and I wouldn't worry about her brothers _too _much…" he said with a twinkle in his eye. At least Arthur thought he could joke about this.

"Yes, sir," Harry said quietly, now worried about all six, well, five, of Ginny's older brothers. What would they do when they found out? He knew how Ron was already; Hermione was taking care of that…

"Harry?" Arthur started. Harry looked up at him in response. "Molly and I want you to know that we like to think of you as one of our sons, and that if you ever need to talk to anyone, about anything, no matter what it is, we are here for you, ok?"

"Ok," Harry said, fighting back tears.

"Oh, and Harry? You three might want to talk about what you are going to say—or rather not say—tonight," Arthur suggested, as he started walking towards the edge of the wards.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Weasley," Harry said as Arthur left the wards and apparated to work.

Harry walked back into the kitchen to find only Ginny left at the table. He quickly told her what he and her dad had talked about. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that she would handle her "big" brothers. Percy had left earlier that morning to go to the Ministry, and Charlie had some things to take care of but hadn't said what. Apparently Ron and Hermione had gone up to Ron's room just a few minutes ago, so Harry invited Ginny to join them with him while they discuss how to explain their story. Ginny smiled at this and reached her hand out towards him, which he took happily. They started walking up the stairs.

"Ginny, come here please!" Molly called out from the sitting room. Ginny released Harry's hand and huffed out in anger; he now realized that he'd be mental to piss off this young fiery red head. Harry shrugged that he was sorry, but Ginny had another idea. Ginny, stood on the next stair up from him, turned around and pulled Harry into a deep, passionate kiss. Harry didn't want it to end. He felt Ginny lean into him, a feeling that he hadn't had in such a long time. The feel of her lips against his, her hand in his messy hair pulling him closer. Harry had no idea how long the kiss lasted.

"GINNY!" Molly yelled from the sitting room. They broke their kiss leaving their foreheads together, taking short ragged breaths. Their eyes locked, and no words were necessary to tell that they desperately needed that kiss.

"You go on up, I'll be there as soon as I can," Ginny whispered to Harry. He let her pass, watching as she went into the sitting room. Harry shook his head and continued up the stairs. He stopped at Ron's room, not even thinking as he opened the door. Harry stood at the doorway, not believing what he was seeing. They hadn't even noticed the intrusion. Hermione had her legs thrown across Ron's lap. Ron had his back up against the head of his bed. Hermione had her hands buried in Ron's thick ginger hair, not letting him get away from her lips. Ron's hands weren't in her bushy hair, but they were exploring her back, roaming restlessly from her shoulders to her back and even down to her arse. Once his hands wandered back down there, he pulled her lower half closer to him. Hermione let out a quiet moan at Ron's insistence, and couldn't help but smile. Ron was smiling against her lips, but that didn't last long, seeing as Hermione deepened the kiss. Harry smiled. It was payback time!

"Oi," yelled Harry, "what do you think you're doing to my sister!" Hermione jumped up so fast, trying to fix her hair, turning as red as Ron was. Harry just started laughing, "Ron, you should have seen your face."

"Not funny mate," yelled Ron, trying to cover his lap with his pillow.

"Not funny?" questioned Harry. "How about when you do that to me and Ginny? Though I've certainly have never done that with her."

At this point Hermione had come right up to Harry and smacked him hard in the chest. "Not funny Harry!" Harry twinged slightly at the smack to his still injured chest, but he was fortunate enough that no one really noticed.

"That's, that's different, that is!" exclaimed Ron turning redder by the second.

"No, it's not Ron," Harry started to explain. "I consider Hermione like a sister, so…."

"Really Harry?" Hermione cut in.

"Of course I do," Harry said. Hermione turned back to Harry and gave him a big hug, which he returned enthusiastically.

"Oi, that's my girlfriend you're hugging there," Ron jibbed at Harry with a smile on his face. All three friends started to laugh as Ron joined in a three-way hug. As the laughing came to a stop Ron added, "Everything's going to change again, isn't it?" Both Harry and Hermione nodded as they let go of the embrace.

"Are you ok, Harry? We were so worried about you," Hermione asked him. She had this concerned look on her face, one that Harry was very familiar with.

"Yea, I'm fine I guess. It was just a lot to process, still is. So many people that we won't see again, and I can't help but feel responsible for their deaths. I mean, if I had figured things out faster or something…" Harry lamented. "I'm sorry I ran away, I didn't mean to make you all worry about me. I… I didn't think anyone would want me around."

"Rubbish, Harry, of course we want you around. Who else will distract Mum for us? "Ron said, dodging a swat from Hermione, even though she couldn't hide her smile.

"I really am happy for you two, you know," Harry told them, grinning. "And Ron, I want you to know that I'm not going to mess around with your sister, I…" Harry didn't get to finish because Ron held up a hand and cut him off.

"I know you won't Harry, just… just be sure to take care of her, she's my little sister, you know?" Ron said with a smile as he jovially punched Harry on the shoulder. Harry nodded and Ron gave him a one-armed hug, while Hermione smiled at them.

"So, what are you doing up here anyway. Shouldn't you be off somewhere snogging my sister?" Ron questioned Harry.

"Your dad suggested that we go over what we want to say tonight," Harry said. "It was almost like he knew there would be things we did not want to share." Both Ron and Hermione agreed to this. Harry asked Hermione if she could ward the room so they won't be overheard. Protected by Hermione's wards, they began discussing what to include and what to exclude. Ginny never came back up, and Harry found that he sort of preferred that she didn't hear all of this anyway, not yet at least.

In the end they decided that they would not mention how Ron had left during the winter (Ron had started apologizing again when they discussed it). They did not want to mention that Luna's dad had tried to turn them into Voldemort in exchange for Luna—they chose to just say Voldemort had tracked them down there. Harry told them he didn't want anyone else to know that he had been a Horcrux, and that's why he had to die. It was decided that it would be best not mention the Hallows; the fewer that knew the better. They headed downstairs around noontime, partly thanks to Ron's stomach grumbling for food so loudly that they couldn't talk any more.

**Thanks for reaidng. Let us know what you though.**


	5. A Story to Tell

**This Chapter is written by Addictedheartache and revised by me. And as always it is edited by his wife. We should have the next chapter posted in 2 weeks maybe sooner. Hope you enjoy! please let us know.**

***The world of HP belongs to JK, we're just playing in it.***

Turning her back on him was hard, but she didn't need to get her mum mad at her right now, so she let him go upstairs to Ron and Hermione. She figured this was something they needed to discuss between the three of them anyway. Even though she badly wanted to know, she would be patient—well, she would certainly try. Ginny walked into the sitting room and said, "Yes, Mum?" in what she hoped was not an angry voice.

"Please sit down, Ginny," Molly said, gesturing to the seat next to her on the couch. Ginny sat down and looked at her. Ginny thought to herself, _I'm not gonna rush into anything, I'm just going to explain that me and Harry are together and that's that._

"Me and Harry are together," Ginny blurted. Ginny groaned and covered her face with her hands, knowing that her cheeks were already Weasley red. Ginny could see her mum raising her eyebrows. She couldn't believe she just blurted that out.

"I know dear."

"You know?" Ginny questioned skeptically, and her mum nodded.

"I'm happy for you two; I just want you to not rush into anything," Molly said. "Please promise me you won't rush into anything—and that you will come to me before you do anything," she added in a rush. Ginny blushed crimson red, was her mum really talking about what she thought she was talking about?

"I promise, Mum," Ginny mumbled, blushing to her roots.

"So tell me, how did it happen?" Molly asked. So Ginny explained everything that happened, from the kiss in the common room to the break up after Dumbledore's funeral. Then the kiss they had shared in her bedroom before they left on their mission, and how she was worried for him the whole time. How when the war was finally over and she still didn't get to see him, and then he disappeared. How she had felt when she knocked him out the night before. Lastly, she told her mum about the kiss they just shared on the steps. Ginny finished explaining everything, and noticed that her mum was deep in thought. "What's wrong, Mum?" Ginny probed worriedly.

"I'm happy for you two, Ginny, I think that you are good for each other, but I'm worried about Harry," Molly answered, cautiously watching the door.

"What do you mean?" Ginny demanded, anxious that something was wrong with Harry.

"I don't think he is being truthful when he says he is 'fine;' he's had to deal with a lot these last few years."

"I know. I'm worried about that too. He keeps saying he is fine, but I can see the bags under his eyes. He isn't sleeping."

"You're going to have to keep an eye on him Ginny; I don't think he is going to let anyone else get any closer than you. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

Ginny and Molly continued talking for the rest of the morning. Ginny thought of trying to go up to Ron's room to join their conversation, but figured it was best to let them be. She knew she should talk to her mum about how to handle watching out for Harry, because it will only be a matter of time until he fell. When he did, she would be there to pick up the pieces.

When it was close to noon, they decided to head to the kitchen and start preparing lunch. Just as they were finished making the roast beef sandwiches, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came down the stairs, followed by George a few minutes later. Ginny sat next to Harry with her head lying on his shoulder. Without even thinking who else was at the table she tilted her head up and pulled Harry's head down into a light but passionate kiss only to be interrupted by George.

"Oi!" George shouted, "What do you think you're doing to my sister there, Potter? Just because you were the one who killed old Moldyshorts doesn't mean you get to go around kissing all the girls!" George said with a straight face until the end, and then started cracking up laughing. After laughing for a couple minutes George was able to get out, "You should have seen your face… it was… classic!" At that point everyone else at the table started laughing–even Molly joined in. They were all happy that George was joking again, even only a little bit. Molly had a few tears trailing down her face, watching her son laugh again.

"Very funny, George," Ginny, said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

George looked up to the ceiling, and then, as if being able to talk to Fred, he said, "Well Forge, it looks like I can't take the mickey out of this boyfriend of hers. I mean, he _is_ the freaking savior of the wizarding world and all. I guess we can't argue with her choice on this one." Ginny saw that her mum was trying unsuccessfully to not become a sobbing mess. George added as he got up, "Well, I need to get going. I'm meeting Percy to finalize the funeral arrangements, since Mr. Potter finally came to his senses and came home." Ginny smiled at this comment and noticed that Harry had looked down and was blushing. With that, George was out the door and gone. Ginny saw Harry looked rather confused, probably because one of her brothers wasn't ripping his limbs off for snogging her. She put her hand on his leg as a calming gesture.

"Well, he's certainly doing better," said Hermione. "I think that was the first joke I've heard him say successfully, without waiting for F-fred to finish it."

"Yes, he is," Molly agreed. "I cleaned all of your dress robes for the funerals; Harry, Ron told me you were going to go to Remus and Dora's tomorrow?" Harry nodded.

"I'll go with you, Harry," Ginny said tenderly.

"Thanks, Ginny," Harry said, looking surprised that she would be going with him, before hugging her. She felt so content with his arm around her; she could have stayed like that all day.

"We're going with you too, Harry," Hermione put in. Harry nodded in thanks to them. Ginny smiled at the connection between them. She now understood the way the three of them worked; they all supported each other, and knew just what the other needed. She knew that she would be there for Harry in a completely different but a still much needed way.

"Ok, time to get cleaning! We are having the Minister over tonight!" Molly announced. There was a series of groans from around the table, except for Harry, who just smiled. How could he be happy at the prospect of cleaning? Ginny's mum started handing out orders. These always had her near Harry, cleaning this or that. Ginny smiled, thanking her mother silently. Before Ginny knew it, George was back with Percy telling them that all the funeral arrangements were ready: they would be burying Fred in the orchard in the back. Percy seemed worried, but George had a grin on his face and a slight fire to his eyes that Ginny hadn't seen in a while. Molly quickly put them to work getting things ready and cleaned up.

Bill and Fleur arrived shortly before Dad came home with the Minister, and Charlie arrived just in time for dinner, which passed rather quietly as it was decided best to wait until after dinner to go over everything. Molly had prepared a feast to rival that of Hogwarts, Shepard's pie with a side of blood pudding. Once everyone was finished, the dishes were quickly taken care of and everyone retreated to the sitting room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat on the couch in the sitting room. Ginny was sitting at Harry's feet, for which she received quite a few raised eye brows from Bill and Charlie. She almost thought she saw Fleur wink at her and smile. Molly and Arthur sat on the arm chair, while everyone else brought in chairs from the kitchen. Kingsley took a chair next to the Weasley parents with a quill and parchment. Harry had whispered to Ginny earlier at dinner to warn her about some of what she would hear tonight, some of which might be hard to take in. She knew that whether it was hard to hear or not didn't matter. She had to be strong for Harry; this was going to be even tougher on him.

"Thank you all for coming," Harry started out, running a hand through his messy black hair. "You all deserve to hear what went on last year and why it was so secretive. But first, due to what we are about to talk about, I would like for everyone here to swear an oath of secrecy. Some of this information _cannot_ get out." Harry stressed the last part. Everyone in attendance seemed troubled, but agreed.

"So," Harry began, "it all started at the beginning of our sixth year when Professor Dumbledore started giving me private lessons. He showed me how Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, came to be. Professor Dumbledore had told me in the beginning that I could only confide in Hermione and Ron. I think he knew how important they would be in everything that I had to accomplish." Harry took a moment and glanced at them before he continued.

"I was given a mission to get Professor Slughorn to give me a memory of a conversation between him and a young Tom Riddle. Once we got the memory, Professor Dumbledore and I watched it. What we found out confirmed what Dumbledore had feared. Voldemort was using an ancient and dark magic. Hermione you can take this part, you're better at it than I am." Hermione nodded and Ron moved away from her to give her space, but retaining possession of her hand.

"Does anyone know what a horcrux is?" Hermione started. Ginny had no idea what that was, but she didn't like the sound of it. She remembered that Harry had said something to Voldemort when they dueled it was _'There are no more Horcruxes, it's just you and me.__1__' _What did that mean?

"I have heard of them, vaguely," Bill said, scratching his chin, looking thoughtful.

"So he made a Horcrux and hid it at Hogwarts?" Kingsley asked. Ginny was hoping someone would explain what this horcrux thing was.

"Well kinda… one of them was at Hogwarts." Ron put in almost casually.

"WHAT!?" Kingsley yelled. "You mean to tell me he made more than one!" The panic was clear in his voice.

"He made seven, to be exact," Ron said. Ginny noticed a look of worry on Harry's face when Ron answered this, and heard Ron mumble an apology; she didn't think anyone else saw the exchange. Kingsley's face was openly shocked at this point, whatever a horcrux was it definitely was really, really bad.

"For those that don't know, the purpose of a horcrux is to keep a piece of the wizard's soul safe, in case their body is damaged beyond repair or destroyed. The only way to split your soul in such way is to commit murder," Hermione explained with a shudder. "Splitting ones soul can have nasty effects."

"This is something that must not leave this room," Harry said while everyone was still absorbing the information. Again, everyone agreed. "At the time we figured this out, Professor Dumbledore was able to determine that two of Voldemort's Horcruxes had already been destroyed already. " Ginny felt Harry place his hands on her shoulders. He gave a squeeze and continued, "The first one I actually destroyed back in my second year at Hogwarts…" Ginny gasped. Knowing what was coming, she turned around to look into Harry's eyes. "When the Chamber of Secrets was opened… the diary that had possessed Ginny in her first year was in fact a Horcrux—an item of importance to Voldemort that he imbued with a piece of his soul. It was destroyed when I stabbed it with a Basilisk fang." Ginny got up and squeezed in between Hermione and Harry on the couch and snuggled into him, seeking what comfort she could get. She always knew that she was possessed by Voldemort, but she didn't know that it was an actual piece of his soul. Ginny shuddered at the thought and felt Harry tighten his grip around her. She was getting some curious looks from the members of the family, especially her brothers, but they chose not to say anything. They all knew what had happened to her in her first year of Hogwarts.

"The next Horcrux was destroyed by Dumbledore, which was a ring that had belonged to Voldemort's grandfather. Before Dumbledore was able to destroy the ring, it left him cursed—that's why his hand was all blackened and shriveled. He only had a year or two to live, and even that long was only thanks to Snape stopping the curse from spreading."

"What do you mean, Snape stopped it from spreading? Didn't you say that Snape kill him last year?" Kingsley questioned, looking quite confused at this new revelation.

"Well, that's all I originally understood myself, but the night of the Battle, Voldemort killed Snape because he stood in the way of, umm, a greater power that Voldemort wanted for himself. Before Snape died, he gave me memories of his that showed who he truly was, Dumbledore's man through and through. " When Harry was saying this, Ginny again thought back to that duel between Harry and Voldemort, and how Harry had told him that Snape was always on Dumbledore's side because… Snape had loved Harry's mother? "Snape was always on our side. Dumbledore knew that Voldemort had ordered Draco Malfoy to kill him, and so Snape and Dumbledore planned for Snape to kill Dumbledore to spare Malfoy's soul. Dumbledore knew he was dying from the curse anyway. The whole time Snape was on our side…" Harry trailed off. Ginny could see the looks of shock on everyone's faces, and that many didn't believe what Harry was saying at first. The last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"It all makes sense now" Ginny said. "Snape always seemed to call the Carrow's away at the right time. And his punishments didn't always seem that harsh, I mean detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest was nothing compared to one with the Carrow's." Ginny stopped talking at that, worried that she had said too much. She really didn't feel like sharing what had happened to her at Hogwarts last year, it was hard enough living with the scars. Harry seemed to sense her discomfort and pulled her closer to him; she immediately relaxed in his arms again. She gave a content sigh and closed her eyes but continued to listen.

"What did they do t—"her mum had started to ask, but luckily her dad forestalled her and said to Harry, "Please continue."

"The night Dumbledore died, we had gone looking for a Horcrux. He had known where to find one, but getting to it had severely weakened him. When we got back to the castle we found it under attack…. You know what happened that night…" Harry said, fighting back some tears and looking to either Ron or Hermione to take it from there.

Hermione picked it up. "The Horcrux they had retrieved was actually a fake, someone had stolen it already. I had everything packed for weeks before the wedding in my bag." Said bag was sitting next to her, and she patted it almost as if to make sure it was still there. "Before I left my house to come here I had changed my parent's memories and sent them to Australia so that they would not be in any danger. It was a good thing I did, as Ron and I checked my old house on Sunday in case Harry had gone there to hide. It was trashed, with Mudblood written all over the walls, and everything thrown about." At this Hermione started to cry, and Ron held her. Kingsley had stopped writing for a bit, getting wrapped up in the story.

"After the attack at the wedding, we ended up at Grimmauld place," Ron said picking up were Hermione left off. "There, we figured out that Regulus Black had stolen the locket with Kreacher's help, but was killed by Death Eaters before being able to destroy it.. However… the real Horcrux was nowhere to be found at the Black residence. Kreacher remembered Mundungus Fletcher taking things from 'his poor Mistress's home.' When we had Kreacher track him down, he told us Umbridge had confiscated it. So we started planning to infiltrate the Ministry and get the necklace from her. We got into the Ministry using Polyjuice potion, retrieved the necklace, and barely made it out. Unfortunately, Yaxley had grabbed ahold of Hermione before we were able to apparate, and we brought him to Grimmauld place. Hermione, quick-thinking as always, apparated us away after knocking him off."

"So that was one of you that gave me the warning as Runcorn that we were being watched? Which one of you was it?" Arthur asked, looking between Harry and Hermione.

"It was me, Mr. Weasley, I had seen the papers in Umbridge's office," Harry said. "After that," he continued, "we were switching locations every day using a tent Hermione had packed away. Sometime during the winter, I found the Sword of Gryffindor in a frozen pond, thanks to Snape's patronus leading the way. Not thinking at the time, I dove in, leaving the Horcrux around my neck. The bloody thing tried to drown me. Luckily for me, Ron had heard me and came to my rescue, pulling me out and getting the Sword. Ron destroyed that Horcrux." Ginny noticed Bill looking at Ron and Harry with a curious expression on his face, and that Ron looked nervous. There was something else going on there but obviously the three of them didn't want to share it.

"After destroying that Horcrux, we really had nothing to go on. Then one night I spoke Voldemort's name, forgetting about the taboo. Well… we got captured and taken to Malfoy Manor." Harry looked over to Hermione, who Ginny could see was shaking slightly. Harry put his hand on hers as Ron held her. "Bellatrix was there and apparently the sword was supposed to be in her vault at Gringotts. She was royally pissed. She…she tortured Hermione to find out what else we stole from her vault." Hermione was crying into Ron's shoulder at this point, and Harry was rubbing her back.

"If it wasn't for Dobby, we wouldn't have escaped that hell hole," Harry said. As a tear fell down his face, he mumbled almost too softly for them to hear, "I told him never to try and save my life again, but he did it anyway." Then Harry said in a louder but sad voice, "Dobby died saving us, Bellatrix killed him with her knife as he apparated us out of there."

"We had apparated to Shell Cottage. We stayed there for a few weeks planning what to do next. We figured that there was a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault, we started planning how to break into Gringotts with the help of Griphook the goblin," Harry continued.

"You were at Shell cottage the whole time and no one told me?" Ginny demanded starting to get angry. "All that time I was sitting at Aunt Muriel's listening to her go on about this and that."

"I'm sorry Ginny, but we couldn't let anyone know we were there," Harry said, rubbing her arm.

"I guess I understand why, it's just, well, I was worried," she shrugged, even though she didn't really feel better.

"I know," Harry said as he pulled her closer. "Well, we broke into Gringotts and found Helga Hufflepuff's cup, another Horcrux. We then escaped on the back of a very angry blind dragon, as you all know. By this point, Voldemort had realized what we were doing. He was so angry that I could see his thoughts, and I figured out that there was a Horcrux at Hogwarts. So we apparated to Hogsmeade, and thanks to Aberforth, we didn't get captured." Harry paused at this point to seemingly gather his thoughts.

"I found that, when Voldemort was at the school as Tom Riddle, he had figured out the Gray Lady was actually Helena Ravenclaw. He tricked her into telling him where she had hidden her mother's diadem. When Voldemort came back to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, he hid the diadem-turned-Horcrux in the Room of Requirement. While I was looking for the diadem, Ron and Hermione got into the Chamber of Secrets to get the basilisk fang and destroyed the cup. Ron and Hermione joined me in the Room of Requirement with a supply of basilisk fangs. Crabbe unleashed Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement, which we barely escaped and destroyed the diadem. By then, we had figured out that the last Horcrux was Nagini, his snake. You all know the rest from there, and how Neville chopped its head off." Harry let out a deep breath. Ginny first felt him relax, and then tense as people would start to ask questions.

The questions started flowing in, mostly Kingsley on this or that to clarify different points. Something was bothering Ginny though. Something didn't add up with what they said. Her dad's next question made her even more curious.

"Why was Hagrid carrying you so somberly? And why did Voldemort think you were dead?" her dad questioned Harry. She could feel Harry tense up at that question. He took longer than usual to answer.

"Voldemort had to think that I was dead in order for him to stop protecting Nagini," Harry said carefully. Ginny suddenly remembered another thing Harry had said during his duel. '_I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people_2_.'_ Why would he say that? And why did Voldemort think he had been dead? _Wait a minute, they said there were seven Horcruxes…_Ginny thought. _The diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the Diadem, and the snake… That's only six!_

"You said there were seven Horcruxes, you only told us about six of them," Ginny questioned, realizing that she didn't really want to know the answer. Both Ron and Hermione looked at Harry nervously. Harry just slightly shook his head. Ginny decided she would take a wild guess. "You were a Horcrux, weren't you?" She whispered into the quiet room. The reactions of shock from her family ranged from gasps, to shrieks, to jaws hanging open. Harry tensed up and closed his eyes. Ron and Hermione eyes grew wide and they looked at Harry, which was all the confirmation Ginny needed to know she was right, although she wished she weren't. Harry just nodded in response.

"You went to him didn't you, you let him kill you! Did you not think that we didn't want you to die, that maybe _I_ didn't want you to die!" she yelled that last part punching at him several times. She was angry, furious at him for thinking of leaving her all alone. "Wh…when I saw you laying their dead I… I wanted to d-die myself," she cried. "Why, why did you do it?" She forgot about everyone else and just wept into his shoulder.

"The other part of Snape's memories explained that I had become a Horcrux when Voldemort first tried to kill me. A piece of his soul broke off and attached itself to the closest living thing—me. So, in order for Voldemort to be killed, he needed to kill me, and by his own hand." Harry said quietly. "_Neither can live while the other survives."_

"I'm so sorry, Ginny, I didn't mean to cause you that pain," Harry whispered to her, but in the silence everyone could hear. "It was so hard. When I was walking out to the forest to die, I walked past you and heard you talking to that little girl as she died. I wanted to stop and pull off my cloak, take you and run away, but I knew that there would be no happiness in that. We would be on the run forever. So many more people would have died. So many people did die…" Harry trailed off tears running down his face. She pulled Harry in closer, their foreheads together; whispering so quietly at this point that no one else could hear. They whispered apologies and forgiveness. Ginny heard Ron ask everyone to follow him into the kitchen, and he herded them all out from the sitting room. She was thankful for her brother. Ever since he and Hermione started going out, he had changed. Ginny heard the door click shut.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Seeing Harry break down, Ron knew that it would not be him and Hermione comforting Harry this time, but instead it would be his sister, and he was strangely ok with that. Harry and Ginny were talking to themselves now as if no one else were in the room. It no longer had to do with what they had done over the last year. They were comforting each other. Ron made his decision.

"Let's all go into the kitchen and have some tea," Ron said, trying to get everyone to leave them be, knowing that they needed this time alone together. Everyone seemed to understand as they all quietly got up and left the sitting room. Once in the kitchen, everyone still had shocked, even awed expressions on their faces.

Ron and Hermione made tea and served everyone a cup. As everyone drank their tea, Kingsley asked Ron and Hermione a few more clarifying questions. Conversation then changed over to Hermione and her parents.

"Well," Kingsley started, "I should be able to reach out to the Australian Ministry, and they should be able to track them down for you."

"That would be great, thank you!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Not a problem, Hermione," Kingsley boomed. "In fact, I should be able to secure a portkey to take you there yourself. Just let me know when you want to leave and I will set it up. I would just need a few days' notice."

"I will, thank you so much Kingsley. I'll find a way to pay for the portkey I know they aren't cheap."

"It's not an issue, and you don't have to worry about paying for it Hermione." Kingsley said sternly. "Oh my, look at the time, it's past midnight. I better be getting home and to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I will see you all at Remus and Dora's funeral tomorrow, right?" Everyone nodded solemnly. "Tell Harry I will have a copy of the press release for you three to approve as soon as I can, thank you again for everything…" Kingsley headed out the door, followed by Bill and Fleur shortly after.

"Well, what are we going to do with them now?" Molly asked from the doorway leading into the sitting room. There, Harry and Ginny had fallen asleep on the couch sitting up with Ginny curled into a ball next to Harry, both holding onto each other.

"I think if we were to wake either one of them they would not be able to get back to sleep," Arthur added.

"Me and Hermione can get some blankets and sleep down here with them if you want. That way, in case Harry starts having nightmares, we'll be here," he said looking at his parents.

"That may be best Ron. Why don't you and Hermione go get what you need, Mum and I will take care of these two."

Ron nodded and grabbed Hermione's hand, leading her off to get the blankets they would need. They both also changed into their pajamas for the night. By the time they were both back into the sitting room, everyone else but his parents had gone to bed. His parents must have covered them with a blanket. His mum still seemed rather concerned. Ron could tell she did not like the idea of her daughter sleeping with a boy under her roof, even if that boy was Harry. Ron walked over to his mum and gave her a big hug and whispered, "It'll be ok Mum." She looked at him and nodded, returning the hug, nearly crushing all the air out of Ron's lungs.

Once the lights were off and both his parents were in bed, Ron looked over at Hermione and whispered, "It will get better; it can only get better now can't it?

"I hope so Ronald, I hope so," Hermione responded.

"Don't worry, Hermione, we'll find your parents and get them back safely."

"You'll come with me?"

"Of course I will, I'll do anything for you, you know that. I have been so stupid for so long with not realizing that I was… was in love with you." He really meant it too, he loved Hermione, and he wished he had figured it out sooner.

"I love you too Ron," Hermione whispered back to him. They fell asleep holding hands.

_1. Quote from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' page 737  
2. Quote from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' page 738_

**Thanks for reading, please let us know what you think!**


	6. The Love of Family

**A/N: This chaper was written by both myself and AddictedHeartache, edited by his lovely wife. We are apologizing now for the fact that we won't be posting as frequently. Due to scheduling conflicts on both our parts, we won't be able to get together and finish the next chapters for a little while. It should be a month before we post again. Postings will become more frequent toward the end of June. **

Slowly waking from what felt like a fitful night's sleep, Harry realized that he wasn't in his bed where he was supposed to be. Instead Harry awoke to the blurry sight of the sitting room of the Burrow, but there was a red haze around the lower half of his vision. He also came to the realization that there was a person pressed up against his side. With a quick glance down, he saw Ginny, still sleeping with her head against his chest. Harry felt his hand on her waist; he flexed his fingers against the well-muscled side. He felt Ginny shift in her sleep, and that's when it hit him. Ginny was sleeping next to him. Mrs. Weasley was going to kill him. Mr. Weasley was going to kill him. Hell, her brothers were going to kill him. Groping for his glasses on the side table, trying to not wake Ginny in the process, he managed to grab them and slide them into place. After blinking his eyes a few times to get used to the clarity his glasses brought him, Harry looked around the living room. Ron was asleep on the other couch across the room. He was snoring away, and with a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth. The red hair the family was so famous for was covering his eyes. Hermione, however, was awake, and bright-eyed. Funnily enough, she was smiling at him. At least he had her on his side, he thought.

With a bit of wriggling, Harry managed to dislodge himself from the sleeping form of Ginny without waking her. Hermione got up as well and followed him silently into the kitchen. Harry was quite shocked to see that Mrs. Weasley wasn't up cooking breakfast yet. He also found himself relieved that she wasn't. With a shrug, Harry walked to the cupboard and gathered the supplies to make breakfast for the whole family; egged toast. While he was gathering the eggs, and bread, Hermione started fixing plates and drinks. "So how do you feel about last night?" Hermione asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"What, about telling Kingsley?" Harry questioned. He started to put the bread in the egg with cinnamon and nutmeg. Hermione nodded. "Well, he needed to know what happened; he had a right to know. And I think he took things well, all things considered."

"I agree," Hermione said, looking over at her best friend. "And I'm really quite grateful that he is willing to help me find my parents and set things right."

"You had the right idea though," Harry reminded her. "You definitely shouldn't be ashamed for doing it. They are still alive, and safe down there, away from all the fighting."

"I know, but I hate the fact that I had to take their memories away from them," Hermione sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"I know, but you know it will all work out in the end, it always does, doesn't it?" Harry said, turning around to give her a small smile before plopping some bread into the hot frying pan. It was at this point that Molly entered the kitchen.

"What are you two doing up?" she asked, fastening the belt on her dressing gown. Harry and Hermione turned to face her.

"We just woke up and decided to start breakfast," Harry said, trying his hardest not to blush from his memories of how he woke up with her daughter. Harry knew he had failed because the corners of Molly's lips showed a slight smirk.

"Oh, Harry, you don't have to do that," she began to protest, but Harry interrupted.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "I'm used to cooking breakfast. And I rather enjoy it when I'm not being yelled at. So please, just let me cook for you today; you already do so much for us."

"You are too sweet," she said, her cheeks coloring pink at his compliment. She joined Hermione sitting at the table, making small talk with Hermione. Harry was frying a second round of egged toast when Ginny walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes. Molly looked at her daughter, and with an innocent smile on her face, asked, "Did you sleep well dear?"

Ginny's cheeks turned pink and a blush slowly crept up her chest. Behind Mrs. Weasley, Harry was full on blushing, but kept his head down and continue cooking. Hermione tried to cover up her giggles, but failed. Ginny shot her a dirty look.

"Well how did you sleep Hermione?" Ginny asked, daring her to respond with who she slept next to as well.

"Just fine, Ginny," Hermione said firmly but looked down at the table. Ginny giggled lightly and slid into the seat next to her best friend. The family began to trickle into the kitchen at this point, and Harry had quite a stack of egged toast prepared. Eventually Ron stumbled in, tripping on the entrance way.

"Have a nice trip Ron?" Percy smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, see ya next fall," Ron grumbled, going over to sit next to Hermione, putting an arm around her. Everyone was looking at Percy, stunned; he didn't normally make jokes, and it was quite a pleasant change.

"Did my **one** ear deceive me, or did prefect Percy just make a joke?" George said from the other end of the table. Everyone laughed, but it quickly went quiet.

Harry finished preparing an enormous stack of egged toast and put it on the table for everyone to get started. When he went back to the range to grab the sausages, he spoke up. "I'm going to go to Remus and Tonks' funeral today." Everyone in the kitchen stopped eating and preparing their plates to look at him. "I thought I'd just let y'all know."

"You aren't going alone," Ron said before taking a big bite of his breakfast. "We're all planning to go as well." Ron said around a mouthful of food.

"Harry, you're not the only one who cared about them," Arthur said. "We have been friends with them for quite some time."

"I know, but I just thought that…that…" Harry trailed off.

"We're all going, and that's all there is to it," Ginny said, getting up from the table and going over to rest her hand comfortably on his back. Harry turned to look at her and gave her a slight smile. It was comforting to know that she knew just what he needed to feel better about this.

"As a family," Arthur confirmed. "And this breakfast is delicious by the way; not that yours is bad dear, but this is quite good."

"Don't you worry," Molly said, smiling at her husband. "This is very good, Harry dear." Molly added taking a bite of egged toast.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, his cheeks coloring at the compliment. The family sat together, enjoying their breakfast until Molly happened to look up at the clock.

"Merlin's hat, look at the time! We're going to be late if we don't start getting ready now!" she announced to the table. Everyone finished their last bites and Molly magicked the dishes to the sink and set them to washing themselves. Harry went to go wash the pans and stuff that he had used to cook, but Molly hurried him out of the kitchen to go get dressed. He made his was up to Ron's room, where he found him going through his small closet for a simple set of black robes. Harry got into the closet next and went right to the back corner where a few of his things still were from before they left on the run. He found a set of black robes and held them up to himself. They were a bit shorter than he remembered; he would have to ask Molly how to stretch them enough for at least the day.

They dressed in silence, not mentioning what happened last night. Once Harry had his robes on, Ron looked over, and the look in his eyes asking if he was okay. "I'm fine Ron," Harry said. "I really am. I just want to get through these next couple of days."

"I know how you feel mate," said Ron, nodding his head in agreement. With a few final adjustments to their robes, they headed back down the stairs to meet the rest of the family in the living room. Everyone else was either waiting or coming down the stairs. Molly fussed over both his and Ron's robes, making each of them longer.

Once everyone was gathered, they walked from the Burrow and apparated to Godric's Hollow. With their feet planted firmly on the ground, the Weasley clan and their two honorary children made their way down the main street toward the cemetery where Harry's parents were buried. He was holding on to Ginny's hand like it was a lifeline. Walking through the kissing gate, they could see the coffins set up in a small clearing near his parents' grave marker. The group silently joined the small crowd of people already Tonks was there holding Teddy, as well as McGonagall, a few other professors, and several other members of the Order of the Phoenix. There were seats set up in front of the caskets with a small podium for whoever was conducting the service.

Pleasantries were exchanged, as well as condolences. Everyone took their seats, and the service began. Harry still hadn't let go of Ginny's hand—he didn't think he could. It turned out that Kingsley would be officiating the service instead of the usual nobody from the Ministry of Magic.

"We are gathered here today to say our final goodbyes to these two souls," he began. "They were colleagues as well as friends of mine, and I will miss them dearly, as I'm sure you all will. Their lives were cut short fighting the fight that they believed in so strongly. Their memories will be honored forever, especially through the raising of their son." In the background Harry could hear a baby crying—that must be Teddy. Looking down at his hand intertwined with Ginny's, Harry felt his own tears start to trickle down his cheeks. He watched as a tear fell from his face to land on their hands. He glanced up to see Ginny looking at him. She placed her other hand on the side of his face, tears falling from her own eyes. She wiped the tears from his face and squeezed his hand. Allowing the comfort to strengthen him, Harry turned back to Kingsley's speech. It took every ounce of strength he had to hold his tears back, he had to be strong, for Ginny, he told himself.

The rest of Kingsley's speech focused on their accomplishments and the happiness they had toward the end of their lives. Harry was stock still the entire time, holding back his tears, but not succeeding toward the end. Although he was silent, the tears tracked down his stoic face. Ginny squeezed his hand in comfort a few more times and he returned the squeeze, thankful for the support she was offering. The ending of the speech was marked by red sparks that Kingsley cast over the caskets, bringing Harry out of his daze. A few of the people who weren't terribly close to the couple began to clear out of the graveyard, but Harry and the Weasleys stayed a bit longer. Still holding Ginny's hand, Harry was the last one to the caskets, to say his final goodbyes.

Once in front of them, he let go of Ginny's hand and reached out, putting his hands on the smooth mahogany wood, one hand on each. He couldn't find the words he wanted to say, so he just looked down at the caskets. He bowed his head and he could feel his knees start to wobble and knew they would be giving out at any moment; Harry didn't have it in him to care at the current moment. As he was about to to fall to his knees, Ginny must have noticed, for she was holding him up, and kept him on his feet. Harry looked down at her in amazement. She knew the exact moment that he needed her; he couldn't have asked for anything more at that point.

Harry put an arm around Ginny's shoulder and turned back to the caskets. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't want you to die, I didn't want anyone to die." He broke down. Harry started crying and Ginny could do nothing else but embrace him. "I will make sure Teddy is safe. And that he has everything he needs or wants, he… he won't grow up like I did." Harry sobbed, then whispered, "I will tell him what you told me Lupin, he will know why his mum and dad died, I will make sure he understands you were trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life, I will tell him," the last words were barely audible. Harry didn't see Ginny's puzzled expression.

Ginny was there supporting him the whole time. Harry felt so happy to have her by his side. With their final sentiments, they made their way back over to the rest of the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was there to greet them. "We are all going to go back to Andromeda's for the wake. Poor woman has lost nearly everything in this war," she said somberly. Harry nodded his head before looking at Andromeda who did seem rather overwhelmed.

"I'll meet you at the house," Harry suddenly said, Ginny went to follow him and he shook his head, "Give me a minute ok?" Ginny nodded and Harry walked over to her. Harry could see the difference in Andromeda's face since the last time he has seen her almost a year ago, he had mistaken her for Bellatrix then. Now her face was tearstained and her hair was a mess, with a grey dusting over the black. Wrinkles creased above her eyes and the side of her face. Harry opened his mouth to talk but nothing came out.

"Hello, Harry," Andromeda said, "How are you holding up? I was wondering when you would come and talk to me."

"I'm, uhh, I'm Teddy's godfather, I don't know if they told you or not… I'm sorry about everything. I wish I was able to stop it sooner maybe then maybe…" Harry trailed off looking at his feet. All of a sudden Harry felt Andromeda pushing Teddy into his arms.

"Put your hand under his head to support him and let him lie across your arm while you use your other arm to keep him steady. There you go that's it," she said softly. Harry looked down at Teddy wiggling in his arms; his hair had turned jet black like his own. He could see the resemblance to both Remus and Dora. Teddy opened his eyes and looked right into Harry's. His eyes had turned green just like Harry's, and just like his Mum's. "I know that they made you his godfather, and don't go blaming yourself for what is in the past, Harry. Come on, let's get going to the house. It seems everyone has gone on ahead of us." Harry looked around and could see no one was left, having either apparated home or walked down to Andromeda's house. Harry looked back down at Teddy and could feel tears slipping from his eyes again. How could he cry so much? There was a small flash of light that made Harry flinch and without thinking he shifted Teddy to his left arm and pulled out his wand with his right hand spinning around looking for the source of the light.

"Odd… It must have just been a reflection from something Harry, let's start heading back to my house. Here I'll take Teddy," said Andromeda, bringing Harry's attention back to her. She was just putting her wand back into her robe, Harry stowed his wand as well. He felt foolish for jumping at shadows and reflections of light. But he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of being watched as he walked to Andromeda's house.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As Andromeda and Harry walked up the pathway to her house, Harry could see Ginny sitting on the front steps. She got up and met them half way down the walkway, giving Harry a big hug.

There were people in Andromeda's house that Harry had never seen before, but everyone else seemed to know each other, as well as him. Many were coming up to congratulate him for his good deeds, but all Harry wanted to do was to get away to somewhere quiet. He looked at Ginny and towards the back door, she nodded in what he figured was agreement. He excused himself to get some fresh air and went out to the back porch. Andromeda was sitting in an old rocking chair, staring out across her vast lawn. She looked up when she heard Harry come outside, and she gave him a small smile.

"Mrs. Tonks," Harry said, walking over to her. "Again, I'm so sorry about Dora, Remus, and your husband."

"Thank you, Harry," she said softly. "I know they are in a better place now, even though I wish they were still with me. But at least I still have Teddy."

"I will try to be the best godfather I can be," Harry said, taking a seat on a bench next to the rocking chair. Ginny, who had slipped out after him, sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder.

"I know you will," she said simply. "About that, I guess we have some things to talk about huh?"

"What do you mean? I'll always be here for him, whatever he needs I will get him."

"I know that Harry, but technically, well you see, since you're Teddy's godfather and of age now, your actually Teddy's guardian now. I feel so bad for wanting to keep him but… but he is all I have left," Andromeda said as she started to cry. Harry just sat there, jaw open in shock. He didn't want to take Teddy from her! He couldn't. He was in no position to take care of Teddy in that way. Oh, he would always be there for him, give him whatever he needed, but…

"Mrs. Tonks—" Harry started.

"—Please call me Andromeda," she interrupted Harry.

"Ok, Mrs.—Andromeda," Harry started. "I don't want to take him away from you. I wouldn't even know the first thing to do! I would probably be begging Mrs. Weasley for help." Andromeda smiled at that and Harry continued, "The only thing that I ask is that you allow me to be involved in his life and to let me help you out in any way that I can, ok?" Ginny had remained silent lying next to him. He glanced over and saw that she was fast asleep he smiled down at her.

"She missed you terribly you know. Nymphadora had told me in the few times we spent together how perfect you two were for each other," she said looking at Ginny. "I wouldn't want it any other way, Harry, and I promise I will always let you have a hand in his raising."

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, then mentally smacked himself for asking that stupid question. Ginny started to stir.

"I'm doing better than I was," she said truthfully. "I think I'm just going to sit out here for a little bit longer."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep," Ginny mumbled as she sat up. "I didn't even realize I was that tired." Ginny let out a big yawn, barely covering her mouth.

"It's ok, Ginny," Andromeda said, "Harry and I were just having a little chat about Teddy here. Would you like to hold him?"

"Can I?!" Ginny replied happily as she held out her hands to receive little Teddy.

"Alright then," Harry said. "I'm going to head inside." And with that, he got up and went back into the house. As he was walking through the main room looking out the window at Ginny holding Teddy, he bumped into a solid mass of a person. When he looked, he saw it was Kingsley.

"Sorry Kingsl—uhh, I mean Minister, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Harry apologized glancing out the window. Kingsley followed his gaze.

"It's just Kingsley for you, Harry. Unless of course we are in front of really important people, and I don't see any of them here so," Kingsley boomed with a chuckle. "I'm going to miss them." Kingsley said, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "How are you holding up Harry?"

"I'm doing fine, I guess. It's just so much," Harry said slowly. "I just hope that it's all over now."

"Unfortunately, it's just begun" Kingsley said gravely. "We have to pick up the pieces and put everything back together…I have my work cut out for me at the Ministry. We lost so many good people, and we have so many files to dig through to find out who was corrupt and who was not. It's going to be long and tedious work." Harry just nodded. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't do anything to help right now. Nor would he really want to. He knew that eventually he would be pulled into it all somehow, but for now he just wanted to be Harry.

"I'm sorry Kingsley," Harry said looking down at the floor. He didn't have anything to say.

"Oh, Harry, sorry 'bout what?" Kingsley said taking his hand from Harrys shoulder. "You don't need to be sorry. I didn't mean to ramble on at you there. I did want to tell you that I'm almost finished with the press release. I will try to stop by the Weasley's on Monday to go over it."

"Alright," said Harry, kind of at a loss for words.

"And I also wanted to give you a heads up, there is going to be a memorial at Hogwarts, next Saturday the sixteenth," Kingsley continued. "I was hoping that you would consider giving a speech."

"Why me?" Harry asked, not really thinking.

"I can't imagine a person out there who wouldn't want to hear the man who killed Voldemort speak," Kingsley said wryly.

"I'd rather not, I mean…" Harry started to say but was cut off.

"I understand Harry, and I won't force you. Just please think about it," Kingsley said. "Talk it over with the other two. I better get going, lots to do."

Harry nodded and went off to find the 'other two.' He told them what Andromeda had said on the back porch, but Molly and Ginny showed up before he could get to what Kingsley had said. Ginny came right up to Harry and took his hand, Molly quirked her eyebrow, but the small smile accompanying it softened the effect. Molly announced that it was time to leave. Ron and Hermione both nodded in agreement, but Harry piped up, "I think I'm going to stay for a little while longer."

"Are you sure dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "You really should come home."

"Yeah, I want to see Teddy a bit more," Harry said convincingly.

"Ron, why don't you stay with him?" Mrs. Weasley suggested. "I'd hate to see him stay here alone."

"I'll be fine honest," Harry said quickly.

Ginny looked like she was about to protest when Arthur chimed in. "Why don't Ginny and Hermione stay as well. They could all use the change of scenery for a bit."

Molly looked like she was about to argue but then said, "All right then, but don't stay to long. Andromeda has enough to deal with, having Teddy to care for. And she doesn't need you four under foot."

Harry nodded. He was glad the Weasley's weren't going to give him too much trouble for wanting to stay. But he was also grateful that he would have his best friends and Ginny with him. With that, the rest of the Weasleys left, leaving the four of them behind.

"So… Why did you really want to stay?" Hermione asked pointedly, raising her eyebrow in question.

"Why does there have to be an ulterior motive?" Harry asked, shrugging his shoulders and throwing his hands up.

"Because with you there always is," Hermione said, smiling at him. "And I know you. So where are we going?"

Harry sighed but smiled back and responded. "I want to go back to Godric's Hollow and visit my parents' grave."

"Right, then let's say our goodbyes to Andromdea and get there now," Hermione said with her take-charge attitude. Harry led the small gang through the kitchen and out to the back porch. Andromeda was still sitting in her rocker. They said their condolences and goodbyes and made their way back down to the cemetery. A short while later they arrived at the kissing gate. Harry entered into the cemetery, but as he started forward he noticed his friends had stopped at the gate. He turned to face them.

"Do you want us to come with you or wait here, Harry?" Hermione questioned softly. Harry noticed that her eyes were moving back and forth rather quickly. He hadn't thought of how being back here would affect Hermione. They had almost died here. Her eyes were slightly shallow, and Harry could see the strap for the beaded bag over her shoulder under her robe. She had the bag on her whenever Harry had seen her these past two days.

He shifted his gaze over to Ginny and held out his left hand. Harry tried to say something but suddenly his voice had escaped him. But Ginny seemed to understand, and she came forward and took his hand. He led them to his parents' grave, Hermione and Ron followed a little distance behind at a slower pace.

He and Ginny approached the gravestone marking his parents grave. With his right hand Harry reach out and traced their names and the dates. Below it read, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." His fingers lingered on that last word.

"Hi Mum, Dad," Harry started with a whisper. "I know you said you were proud of me, and that it's not my fault. Voldemort is dead, but I can't help but feel responsible for everything. I got Sirius and Remus killed, your two best friends. I wish that… I wish…" Harry felt something he couldn't quite put into words. He felt a light touch on the back of his neck. Ginny was still standing next to him holding his one hand while his other hand had stayed on the gravestone. She had tears sliding down her cheeks.

Harry let go…

He had never mourned the loss of his parents. For the first eleven years of his life he had only known the Dursleys, and had concentrated on just surviving. Then he had found out he was a wizard and went to Hogwarts; there for the next seven years he fought Voldemort. Now it was all done. No more trying to survive. Maybe now he could live, but in order to live, he had to mourn. Harry fell to his knees and began sobbing violently. Ginny crouched down next to him and tried to calm him down, but it was all for nothing. He kept sobbing, and his whole body was shaking.

"It's all over," Harry said between gasping sobs. Harry was on his knees, his hands over his face, with Ginny kneeling beside him, holding him and stroking his hair.

"It's okay, I'm here," Ginny whispered to him, trying to support and lend her strength to him. Harry was grateful for it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"It's okay, I'm here," she whispered to Harry. She didn't know what to do. She knew he was finally grieving for his parents, something he'd probably never had the chance to do. Time passed, and Harry continued to sob. Ginny wasn't sure when, but at some point she turned to look at Ron silently pleading for help. It was almost dinner time. Mum would be wondering where they were.

"Should I get Dad?" Ginny heard Ron ask Hermione worriedly.

"I don't think it could hurt," Hermione whispered. Ron apparated away quickly, Ginny looked back when she heard the pop of Ron apparating away. Hermione had started looking around anxiously and was clutching something through her robe. It didn't take Ron long to return with their dad. Arthur walked over to her and Harry. He placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded. Ginny stood up and walked over to Ron and Hermione as her dad took her spot next to Harry. She gave Hermione a big hug. They both obviously needed support, and her thick-headed brother seemed oblivious to Hermione's needs.

Harry and Arthur talked for a good ten minutes or so. They couldn't hear anything that was said. Eventually Mr. Weasley stood and helped Harry to his feet. Harry gave her dad a quick hug, and they started walking towards them. Harry kept his eyes down.

"I'm sorry everyone has to be worrying about me," Harry said, his voice still thick from crying. "I really don't mean to keep doing this." Harry looked up and looked from Ron to Hermione and then to Ginny. She let go of Hermione and embraced Harry, burrowing her head into him, holding tightly.

"Don't you worry about it," Arthur said. "You are a part of this family, and we help our family, always."

With that final sentiment Arthur led the young people from the graveyard and apparated back to the Burrow.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Harry stopped Ron from going into the house with his father and the two girls. "Thanks for getting your dad," Harry said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it Harry. What are brothers for?" Ron said almost casually. When he heard Ron say that he just stopped moving. He couldn't form any words, so Harry just gave Ron a hug, one that Molly would have been proud of. For the first time since his first year at Hogwarts Harry felt like he belonged somewhere. He had a family now, and they loved him. They would do whatever they could to help him.

With that thought Harry smiled and entered the Burrow. He was tired and ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be even harder, but he would make it through with his family.

**Thanks for reading. Review please. **


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